Understanding
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: One small thing... can change everything. What if Momo hadn't, gone into a comma. What if words were said that would end up changing the fate of the youngest taicho, not to mention the entire Kurosaki family? Perhaps everyone else too?
1. Prolog

_Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach. This is one of my 'sequels' to Admiration, though I don't think that fanfic needs to be read to understand what is going on in this fanfic._

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**Understanding  
**_******~Prolog~**_

_Having your captain leave his final words to you, that ought to be a happy thing for a Lieutenant.  
~ Matsumoto Rangiku ~_

As Ichimaru Gin entered the grounds of the vast dessert with the other three captains, he felt somewhat restless having left Rangiku behind like he had. The fact that the small taicho had his blood splattered across the housing units of the forty-six didn't help the feeling either. These events couldn't be helped though and he knew full well that no one would come to trust him after this, but that was all part of his plan. Or was it?

"Did you have to kill the small taicho?" Gin asked with a tone of pity in his voice. "He's still a kid you know, even though he won't admit it."

"I gave him a blow that will let him live under Unohana's hands," Aizen smirked. "I haven't yet had a chance to manipulate him like I did you and I hope that some of my words will do that to him… manipulate his heart so that it becomes filled with bitterness and quell the strength of his fighting blade."

Tosen had moved on by now ahead of the two. Gin frowned at the response he was given. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"His taicho is in fact alive in the living world, a fact I rather hid from you Gin. My words to the boy were '_admiration is the furthest thing from understanding'_, correct? I wasn't just referring to Hinamori's admiration of me but of the fact that the boy truly did admire his former taicho. If they were to meet again, the boy would easily come to trust the former captain of the tenth. However, I am hoping my words cause the opposite effect as doubt will be placed in his mind," Aizen smirked.

Gin only frowned at this. "In other words the goal is to make him distrust the man deeply?"

"If not distrust, then bring to surface a lot of the hurt and pain that he is dealing with," Aizen gave a small chuckle. "One thing, can change everything..."


	2. Emotions

**Understanding  
~Emotions~**

The forth division had always smelled like antiseptics and cleanliness. The smell though was more pungent due to the fact that more people were in the fourth division then usual, or so Unohana-Taicho would prefer. The smell was something that someone who frequented the division should get used to, unless the reason they were there pertained to the fact they were constantly getting injured.

One small patient had enough of the smells under normal circumstances when he had ended up in the division, however, today came the problem that the potency of the smells was not only a greater amount, but his senses were on edge due to what had occurred to him mentally. He was also, not one to stay still, something that the taicho of the forth was well aware of. She had learned a long time ago that there were times that it was better for her to help him sneak out then hinder him.

Thus, when Hitsugaya Toshiro awoke from his sleep from the injury that Aizen had given him, he found that his shingami robes were already set out for him ready for him to return to duty. That and it was accompanied by a note asking him not to push or over exert himself, as she would in fact tan his hide, which made him smile a bit. He got up and closed the door, so that he would have privacy when he changed.

While the young taicho had always been one about privacy when it came to _issues _of the body, he, without realizing it or due to the fact that he denied it, was at the age where one tends to become insecure about ones body, and the changes it was going through. Both the insecurity he had and the fact that he had been taught by his granny to be modest, made it so that he favored privacy, and soon would be wishing the doors on the forth division had locks on them.

He had untied the hospital robe and was slipping in off, when someone barged through the door, into the room, with a female voice. "I think that Renji-kun and Byakuya-kun are this way!"

"Orihime…" came the voice of an older male. The young taicho stood there, completely frozen, the kimono practically hanging from his shoulders loosely, one hand having pulled one side half way off. Hitsugaya found himself in one of the most humiliating positions that he had been in a long time. It became publically humiliating when a few of the nurses passed by the wide open door and glanced in, only to stifle their giggles.

Standing now inside his hospital room were two people he didn't recognize, but assumed were the Ryoka. One was a female in stolen shingami robes, with the same hair color as Matsumoto, not to mention as huge of an endowment… his luck would have that she was just as clingy as his lieutenant. The other was a male, with the same color hair, but dressed in shingami robes, and one of the biggest sword blades he had ever seen on a shingami.

"Umm… Orihime…" the orange haired person scratched his head.

"Yes Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked.

"I think we should shut the door now." The older boy tilted his head to the door. Toshiro wanted to say that they should also leave as the girl closed the door; however, he was still completely frozen. The shingami Ryoka nodded his head towards Toshiro, who suddenly misbalanced and fell to the floor, completely mortified by the turn of events.

"Hai!" Orihime stated.

The older boy suddenly grabbed the inner kimono from the top of the stack and tossed it at Toshiro while he was on the ground. "Apologies for that. I am Kurosaki Ichigo, and this is Inoue Orihime. Orihime… don't stare at him! Turn around! Guys don't like being caught in their underwear like this."

"I thought guys liked to sit in the living room in their underwear, drink beer, watch sports and slap girls on the buts," came the response from the girl, though she did turn around and the other person didn't watch him

By the time that she had said this, Toshiro had stood up and had removed the one kimono, to replace it with the other, his whole body shaking from embarrassment. He stopped short; however, found the second kimono tossed at him from where he had moved to sit on the bed. "Hurry up, or those nurses might come back to sedate you… you are trying to escape, aren't you?"

"How…" Toshiro finished with the second kimono, though his uniform wasn't as straight as it should have been. He found the bottom part then thrown at him.

"Oh… look Ichigo-kun!" Orihime stated, suddenly said, holding up the small taicho's haori. "A child's play captain's cloak!"

Toshiro couldn't help but stop midway from pulling up the legging part, and to his dismay, he felt it grabbed and tied by the older boy. "Sheesh… Orihime… I don't think the captain here likes the fact you're treating him like a little kid." The white haired taicho could only think the same thing though about Ichigo. The older boy continued. "I apologize, but I forgot you name from the announcement."

"Oh… Hitsugaya-Taicho…" Orihime put a finger to her mouth. "Umm… didn't you have a life threatening injury?"

"I'm fine…" Toshiro stated.

"Are you sure…" Ichigo teased. He then glanced at the floor. "I think you knocked his socks on the floor…"

"Gomen…" Orihime picked them up and handed them and the haori to the small taicho. As he was finishing slipping them on, a man with blond hair and sunglasses popped into the room.

"What is this I hear about you bothering the taicho?" the man suddenly asked.

"He was trying to escape!" Orihime stated, not realizing the trouble she was causing.

"Hitsugaya-Taicho… I thought that by now you would have kicked your bad habit of running off from the division by now," the man sighed. "You…"

"Oi!" Ichigo stated, suddenly raising his hand from where he sat on the bed. "How come you don't have a nurses' station that lets you know what room the patients are in? Or any signs that tell you the room number?"

"Excuse me?" the man gave those two flabbergasted looks.

"He's right you know. We've been trying to find a couple of friends for a period of time now," Orihime stated. "In the living world, hospitals work that way."

"This isn't the living world!" the man snapped. "Captain… Hitsu… where did he go?"

"We owed him one for barging in like we did!" Ichigo smirked, suddenly dashing out of the room, with Orihime hot on his heals.

**M**

The small taicho was soon wishing that such a thing did indeed exist. He had been looking for the lieutenant of the fifth division for some time now, but there was practically no one in the critical section of the ward. Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind him. "If you are looking for Hinamori, she is out of danger and sitting up in bed. We were lucky that she didn't go into a comma, however… perhaps it is also unlucky."

The white haired boy turned towards the woman. "What do you mean by that Captain Unohana?"

"What I mean is, her mind is really fragile, and she might say something to you… understand she's been mentally broken," the woman gave him a sad look.

"Can I please see her?" Toshiro asked, his eyes showing worry.

"No," Unohana shook her head.

"But… please. She's like family to me," Toshiro glanced at the ground. "I really need to know the truth of how she is doing with my own eyes."

"All right, but I do not think this is a good idea." The woman sighed. She motioned for him to follow her. They soon came to a room and she opened the door a crack. "Lieutenant Hinamori, someone is here to visit you."

"I don't want to see anyone…" came the muttered reply. However, Unohana let herself in and Toshiro still followed.

"Hinamori, it's me… Hitsugaya-Taicho…" the boy muttered stepping over to the bed.

"Why didn't you stop him Shiro-chan?" the girl suddenly asked, tears having welled in her eyes.

"What… you mean Aizen?" Toshiro frowned at this.

"If you mean the fact you didn't stop him from leaving, yes," the girl stated, her eyes glazed over. "Could you please leave Unohana-Taicho?"

"I don't think…"

"Please, what I have to say is between me and him," the girl stated firmly. "Please."

"I don't think this is a good idea, so I will be just outside the door," Unohana had vibes about her that felt that the situation wouldn't turn out well.

"Shiro-chan, I am mad at you for not stopping Gin," Momo stated. "He's the ringleader."

"No, Aizen was, bed wetter Momo…" Toshiro sighed.

"When you say that, it makes me think that Aizen's letter was true, that you were behind all of this," Momo suddenly yelled, causing Unohana to come back into the room.

"Momo-nee-san…" Toshiro's voice suddenly cracked. "Why… why are you…"

"Don't call me that!" the girl snapped. "I bet that your taicho had planned this out all along. _If _you think about it, he's the true traitor"

"We've been family for a long time! How can you trust that bloody bastard more then you do me! And don't bring my former taicho into this!"

"Because we were family once, and not anymore," Momo stated. "And I never, ever liked him!"

"Nani!" Toshiro felt a chocking feeling in his chest, and tears coming to his eyes. "Please don't say…"

"It's true! You abandoned grandma and left her to live alone!" Momo yelled her voice rising. "As far as I am concerned, your not my family, nor hers either. And don't go to her place pretending like we still are a family."

"Momo-nee…" Toshiro found himself interrupted.

"Don't call me that anymore, Hitsugaya-Taicho. You've gotten your wish, haven't you… that I call you by your last name? Go away!" Momo stated firmly just as Unohana barged into the room, and the small taicho darted out.

As he hurried away, he bumped into his lieutenant. "Taicho… I was looking for you… hold on…"

She suddenly pushed him away instead of her usual pulling of him towards her. She could see tears welling in his eyes. "Taicho… did something happen between you and Momo-chan?"

"Nothing Matsumoto…" the boys voice was cracking like it was about to break.

"Taicho… you need to talk to someone," Matsumoto tried to pull him closer.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped pulling away. He then saw the hurt look on her face and made a bow to her. "I am so sorry Rangiku, but I am really worried that I am about to lose control… and I don't want anyone to be at the brunt end of what might come."

Matsumoto's eyes went wide with concern, then her expression turned to one of anger. She shunpooed to where she felt the fifth division's second's reiatsu. "_What _did you say to him!"

"It doesn't matter. I'm having nothing to do with him anymore," Hinamori blurted out, a far away look in her face.

"_Unohana­-Taicho_! What did she _say!_" Matsumoto was livid.

"She blamed everyone but Aizen. Gin, Hitsugaya-Taicho… Isshin-san. She then went and said that they weren't family anymore…" Unohana frowned. "I warned him it wasn't a good idea to visit her!"

"I am right here you know!" came the sudden reply.

"What makes you say he isn't family anymore!" Matsumoto yelled while Unohana tried placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Because he abandoned grandma!" came the sudden reply, only to have Matsumoto slap her hard across the face.

"Rangiku… stop it!" Unohana stated.

"I don't care! She has to know the truth! You are the one who abandoned your family Hinamori. You never noticed the problems that were arising at home. Hell, you never saw how much he was bullied before you left, possibly because he made sure you didn't know so it wouldn't hurt you. You never saw how upset he was when all you talked about was the academy and Aizen, did you!"

"Toshiro wouldn't hide something from me because he doesn't want to hurt me! He's said very cruel things, like telling me to never come home from the academy, to not bother coming back! He even made fun of the academy, saying he never wanted to go to my stupid school!"

"I swore, I would never tell anyone this, as it is taicho's business, but I also know that he won't tell anyone, and it needs to be said so you two can patch things up."

"I don't want to!" the girl stated as Unohana got out a sedative. However, Matsumoto held out her hand to stall her.

"Your little brother really did not ever want to become a captain, to become shingami, to go to the academy," the robust woman yelled.

"That isn't true… he acts like he did…"

"Because he's hiding the truth of why he joined from you!" Matsumoto stated. "You've always wondered, right, why he felt he owed me something, right?"

"And what would that be?" Hinamori suddenly felt a needle in her arm as Unohana got passed the other lieutenant.

"I _had _to explain to him that his reiatsu was killing the two of yours grandmother. _If _he had stayed, he would have killed her!"

"No… no… no…" Hinamori felt tears coming to her eyes as she was being forced to calm down. "I never noticed… you're lying."

"Your reiatsu countered his by the fact that your inner world is nice and warm," Matsumoto snapped. "He may be a genius, but truth be told, they really wanted to hold off until they were older. However, with as high a level as his was, and the fact that his zanpaktou had been trying to contact him for some time, they had no choice.

"Your _brother_, even though you do not wish to call him that anymore, is afraid of hurting people unless he absolutely has too. If he could have, he would have held off in joining the academy until you graduated at least, but he couldn't."

If Momo hadn't been sedated as she was, she would have burst into tears then and there. "I… never wanted to hurt him."

Matsumoto's face calmed. "Child… you were so jealous of him, and so focused on Aizen, that you didn't see him anymore."

"I'm sorry,"

Unohana spoke up for Rangiku. "She and I are not the one you need to apologize too…"

"I can't…" Momo stated as she fell asleep.

"This is not good…" the forth division taicho shook her head.

_

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_

Author's note –  
~First off, I forgot to add a warning that I meant to in the first chapter that there might perchance be Toshiro/Karin in this fanfic, or build up of it into this and sequels to this particular one. Perchance…  
~Second, for those who think Momo is OoC… the idea sprung from my head, what would happen if Momo hadn't gone into the comma that she had. She is having mental problems later on, so they must be worse closer to the incident, right?  
~Third, as people who have read some of my other fanfics, I like to build things up. Isshin won't come into play for a bit… due to plot reasons.


	3. Out Burst

**Understanding  
~Out Burst~**

If one watched the youngest taicho move across the Seireitei, one might have thought that he had some sort of urgent business to tend to, dealing with resolving the current problems that had occurred. His movements across the roof tops were with great speed, and he wasn't in fact moving towards his own division, but towards the Rukongai.

Toshiro felt a great swelling in his chest that felt like it was going to burst out at any minute, his breath was coming ragged, and not from the distance that he had been running. His mind begged for him to scream out loud, and try to release some of the tension, but he could also feel the leaking of his reiatsu, spurting out and becoming dangerous.

In other words, if he suddenly released all his emotions out at this one point in time, disaster would break out. He could easily maim or kill anyone who was in the general vicinity. Or, he might end up destroying some of the local buildings, crumbling them to the ground, adding to the disrepair already there, something Yamamoto would defiantly not be pleased with.

Emotions… shingami were supposed to leave them behind, were they not? So why suddenly was he being overwhelmed by all of these feelings so suddenly. He was supposed to be the ice coldness, nothing being allowed in… not ever since he had become captain. Not ever since his taicho had left.

What exactly were the emotions that he was feeling? Always he had problems pinpointing exactly what emotion it was that he had been feeling from time to time, when he had felt it, other then frustration and anger at Matsumoto for not doing her work. What he wouldn't give for a lieutenant who would actually help him for once… but then, Matsumoto knew him better then anyone.

It had been completely indignant for those two earlier, the two Ryoka, to barge in on him like that, and see him half naked, trying to get dressed. He always bathed alone, always slept alone... changed alone. He'd always had problems with people seeing him without a certain level of clothing on, even if it was for things like the yearly physicals, which he loathed to no end.

And then there was Aizen, hurting Hinamori the way that he had, twisting her mind so that it hurt and broke her to pieces. Or Gin, who Toshiro had a long time ago, been sure had loved Rangiku, but now it hurt to think that it had possibly been one sided. Even though his lieutenant said they were only childhood friends, he figured it had been something more.

And not like the childhood friendship that was like a family situation, as between him and… Hinamori. Momo had forbidden him to call her family anymore, forbidden him to call granny family anymore. He had lost quite a lot, a good deal of those he considered his friends, and all that she had left him with was one lieutenant.

He hated pushing himself onto her too, as she had already taken the brunt of his hurts and pains, ever since she had found him so long ago. She did it, truthfully, unconditionally, but he felt at times if he put too much on her, she might leave too, much like Gin left her, but not in the exact same context.

Suddenly, he found himself in the Rukongai, in a vast field of grasses, with no one else around. He stopped running and collapsed to his knees, a sob coming to his throat. "Why… why!"

At first soft, then loud, his reiatsu suddenly burst forth.

**M**

Shiba Kukaku sat in her home, smoking her new pipe, completely bored and wondering if she would be allowed to participate in the coming efforts to get back at Aizen. In some ways, she doubted it, in others; she had the idea that she would. Her head though suddenly perked as she felt a familiar reiatsu coming from near by.

Ganju, who was sweeping up the room, glanced up. "Why's that reiatsu familiar?"

"I believe it is Toshiro-kun," Kukaku stated standing up, slightly concerned with the unusual behavior and pattern she felt in his spiritual pressure.

"Who?" Ganju asked, his eyes narrowing.

Kukaku tapped her wooden arm. "Remember… he basically saved my life?"

"Oh… the kid shingami that bro, sis-in-law and you were worried about due to his… age," Ganju suddenly had his jaw drop and glanced towards the place that the reiatsu was coming from. "Nee-san… his reiatsu… it feels like he is having a tantrum. This isn't like him at all."

"Which is why I'm going out after him," she sighed, dumping the ashes and sticking her pipe into her clothing.

"I'll…"

"You'll stay here, Ganju… ice counters earth, especially captain level ice, but fire can counter ice. I am technically the best one to go," the woman stated, shunpooing away, leaving a rather upset Ganju. Her muscles moved her quickly across the ground, to where she soon spotted a long field of ice.

Muttering a few words, she used the fire to enter in, melting the plain and to battle the freezing wind away. She pushed forward, and eventually was able to see through the storm as small figure on all fours, the reiatsu being released uncontrolled. She did the one thing she felt would work, and shoved him hard into the ground, knocking all the air out of his lungs. "What the hell do you think your doing?"

"Kukaku-kun?" the small voice stated, gravely from having yelled so much.

"Kukaku-kun?" the woman suddenly had a look of shock.

"You said not to call you by last name as there are so many Shibas, and not to call you Kukaku-san because it made you feel old, and if I called you Kukaku-chan…" the boy stopped short, his body suddenly shaking from the fact that he had let lose so much reiatsu for such a sustained period of time.

"I see… just Kukaku, all right," she muttered. "You have a very good memory it seems. So, can you remember why you are out here so far, destroying the landscape."

"Because…" Toshiro closed his eyes. He thought about telling her about why he was upset, but found the reasoning to be something that would not be a dignified thing for a taicho to say, so he said something else about why he was there. "I was about to lose control of my reiatsu and knew it would be volatile like this."

"Toshiro taicho," Kukaku suddenly stood up, dusting the ice away from her knees. "I know that you're hiding something… this was an emotional outburst. Something to do with the taichos betrayal?"

"Can I ask you something," Toshiro breathed out, his breath still stressed from what had been happening.

"And what might that be?" Kukaku stated.

"No matter how dumb of something, or bad of something one of your brothers did, you wouldn't ever tell one of them they weren't part of your family anymore, would you?" Toshiro suddenly asked.

Kukaku stretched her one good arm and began walking away. "Come on… our current location is near by. Come and get some rest, say hello to Ganju and… that stupid boar of his. Eat with us… punch Ganju if he argues about it…"

"Knowing you, you won't take no for an answer," the small taicho muttered, standing up. "And you won't answer my question until I do go."

At this she glanced back, only to see the small boy collapse to his knees as he tried to step forward. Kukaku shook her head, and stepped over, giving him a hand up and then pulled him over her shoulder, even though this meant that he possibly wasn't pleased about being carried like a sack.

"You've lost your energy to move, your power was so raw. The answer at this point is that I wouldn't throw away family like that. But sometimes… even I know, people change," Kukaku sighed.

**M**

Upon arriving back at her home, she took him to where she had launched her canon and leaned him up against the tower to rest while she went to work cleaning up the area. The sun was setting and she noticed that he looked at the sunset with an extremely longing look on his young face, meaning that there was some sort of meaning there.

As she worked, she suddenly felt the presence of someone's reiatsu and looked up to see Kuchiki Rukia. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize for Shiba Kaien's death. I should have come…"

"What ever… I decided to forgive a long time ago. I was lectured by Ukitake once for my overly brash actions,"

"What action? I really am…" however, the female soul reaper suddenly found a fist slammed into her skull.

"Stop apologizing," Kukaku hissed. "There is no need to! Seriously!"

"I'm… captain Hitsugaya?" Kuchiki was rather taken off guard that the youngest captain had been sitting there, the whole time.

"Ehh… oh yeah, he's here…" Kukaku stated, shrugging her shoulders. "I met him back when he was still a lieutenant in the Gotei thirteen. Kaien and his wife took interest in him because he too is a genius…"

"Oh…" Rukia went over and knelt down in front of the small taicho. "What are you doing here?"

"I would rather not say…" the boy had a far away look in his eyes.

"Taicho… are you all right?" Rukia became suddenly concerned.

"Don't mind him. He just let off a lot of reiatsu recently and needs to rest," Kukaku stated.

"But why… isn't he…" Rukia suddenly became confused.

"Rukia! We found you!" came the voice of two others, female.

"Ichigo! Orihime!" the small female shingami stood up suddenly and waved at them, a smile on her face.

"I'd have expected you to be more moping, considering the reason you came," Ichigo muttered, scratching his head at this.

"Uhh…" Rukia glanced over to where the small taicho was.

"Why don't you three also stay for dinner?" Kukaku smiled. "I all ready have another guest… won't Ganju be surprised!"

"We will be leaving sometime tomorrow…" Ichigo stated, only to find himself punched on the head. "We'll stay for dinner…"

Kukaku then walked over to where the small taicho was and gave him a hand to his feet, on which he swiveled a bit, but was able to maintain his balance. He was desperately trying not to look the two in the face, one of which had changed her clothing since then. However, she became suddenly worried. "If you weren't well enough to leave the forth division…"

"Nah!" Kukaku stated. "He just had an out lash of his reiatsu is all and needs to recoup from that."

Ichigo suddenly went and bent down so he could get a good look into the boy's eyes, while Rukia suddenly pulled on his arm to stop him from being what she considered, disrespectful. "You had an emotional break down, didn't you?"

At this, the white haired taicho's eyes suddenly shot up in shock. Kukaku though hit Ichigo on the head. "No time for that, lets go eat! I'm starving!"

**M**

Upon arriving downstairs, everything seemed like it should have been quiet. However, as soon as Toshiro stepped through the doorway, as he was the last one, there was a sudden squealing of Bonnie, and the boar went flying, knocking Ichigo over and causing Kukaku to have to dive to the side. A loud crash was suddenly heard, along with a fit of giggling. "Ganju… get… your… stupid… pet… off… of… me."

"Oi! Bonnie isn't stupid!" Ganju whistled for his boar, however, she just turned around and gave him a dirty look, and went back to licking the small taicho to death. "Oi! Bonnie! All right… she is stupid."

The youngest Shiba then stomped his feet and walked over, pulling the boar off of the child. Toshiro wiped the slime off. Ichigo shook his head and Orihime commented. "I don't think she's stupid. She just… likes Toshiro-kun."

"Why's he here?" Ganju pointed his finger at Toshiro.

"You felt his spiritual pressure awhile ago," Kukaku stated. "He needs to rest and get some food in him."

"But he's a shingami!" Ganju suddenly complained, only to have his sister tap her wooden arm. "Oh yeah… I forgot about that."

"What?" Ichigo suddenly asked, only to receive no answer.

Ganju turned to the small taicho. "Shiro-chan, you're younger then me and since Gotei ranks mean nothing here…"

"Just kick him… same place as that other time," Kukaku stated as she saw the small boy's face go livid. "It worked wonders, ne?"

Ganju suddenly turned pale at this. "Nee-san… you wouldn't… ask him…"

"I don't have time to deal with idiots like that," Toshiro stated. "And it's Hitsugaya-taicho now."

Ganju suddenly yanked him up by his robes. "I called you Shiro-chan back then."

"And I insisted on being called by my proper rank, Lieutenant, thank you very much," the boy snapped, suddenly grabbing onto the man's shoulders and pushing off with his feet, and sending a hard kick into a sensitive area, causing him to drop the boy.

"Good… maybe you won't have kids," Ichigo stated.

"You!" Ganju let out a very whiny voice.

"They would be as stupid as you!" Ichigo continued.

"If anyone shouldn't have kids, it's that jerks former taicho!" Ganju stated pointing at Toshiro, which caused the small boy to suddenly lunge forward, only to be grabbed by Kukaku.

"Now, now… I know that the former head of the tenth division is a sore subject for you, as much as talking about my brother and sister-in-law is, or the lieutenant before you, but seriously… cool it. Cool maneuver, yet again though," Kukaku smirked, dragging the small, and still livid taicho to sit over by her.

"What gives… I thought you two didn't like shingami," Ichigo suddenly asked.

"That would be my idiot brother's line of thinking. Certain shingami… Kaien was real close to, so we ended up meeting them. Kaien and nee-san were never able to have kids, and as Hitsugaya-kun was a genius like my brother, graduating in a year… they both took great interest in him. Ganju has never liked him though. Plus… I won't say why, but we owe him a great deal of respect," Kukaku smiled.

Toshiro suddenly pulled her head down and whispered something into her ear. Orihime turned pale. "If he's telling you about how we accidently walked in on him at the forth division room changing, we were really sorry for that!"

"Orihime…" Ichigo turned pale, as did the small taicho, whose face turned red.

Kukaku suddenly burst out laughing, and clapped for the food and others to come in. "That happened today… oh gosh. No, he was just keeping a promise of telling me why Kaien wanted to learn Bankai. I told him he couldn't tell me until he achieved Bankai himself, as Kaien had been working with him on it. I haven't seen him since a little after Kaien's death, so now is the first time he could tell me."

"Nee-san?" Ganju looked at her hopefully.

"I'll tell you when you have grown up more," she gave him a nasty look.

"Ahh…" Ganju pouted, to much laughter, disincluding one small taicho. Every one commenced eating. It was soon though, that his small head nodded of to sleep and he was leaned up against Kukaku, his soft snoring barely audible to her.

"Good grief, he's grown since I've last seen him," Kukaku stated, taking the time to rub his head.

"Was it true what Ichigo said, that his release of reiatsu was emotionally based?" Rukia stated.

Kukaku frowned at this. "Unfortunately, yes. And don't try going and hiding this whole mess from them when you get back… believe me when I say, they'll know. I am not sure what consequences lie in store for him…"

"What if they decide to execute him like Rukia!" Orihime bemoaned.

The eldest of the Shibas let out a laugh. "Oh… probably not that. And I don't think they'll strip him of his rank. At least, I hope not. They were well aware of how old he was when they made him taicho, and they all have a soft spot for him. He is still a child, even though he will be the last one to admit that. And his former taicho was doing so well with him too… no, they won't strip him of his rank."

"Then what do you think will happen to him," Ichigo stated.

"Forced vacation… I don't know. I expect something that really isn't a punishment, but he'll take it as such," the woman smiled.

_

* * *

_

Author's note – Well… I wonder how many people expected me to work the Shiba family into this?


	4. Punishment?

**Understanding  
~Punishment?~**

Twelfth division had picked up on the youngest taicho's wild, raw and destructive release of spiritual energy. And of course, Yamamoto had been informed about this information, right around the same time that Unohana had managed to come and personally tell him about what had transpired between the young taicho and the second of the fifth division. The first words out of his mouth were. "Should we have made him taicho?"

"He has the skills and means to be able to perform the duty and has done quite well in the past twenty years since his taicho disappeared," Unohana stated.

"But he is still a child, and we didn't take into account what his actual age meant, and I don't think that we exactly have been fair to him," the man stated, folding his hands and setting his elbows on his desk. "Because he is taicho, he is expected to act and think a certain way, like a mature adult. But can anyone truly think like this?"

"No, they can't. And the younger a person is, the more they don't know how to deal with certain feelings," the healer stated.

"Exactly my point with him… and he didn't know who to turn to, as he may not have felt that he wouldn't be ridiculed by asking the questions he needed to," Yamamoto tapped his fingers. "Isshin was right… he needed the chance to be a child… even as a taicho, we still should have given it to him, but we've majorly overlooked quite a few of these, haven't we."

"Sir?" Unohana stated, suddenly smiling, hoping that he was getting at what she hoped he was.

"If Ukitake and Kyoraku can act like children at times, not to mention your self and I being able to enjoy life, I don't see why the youngest of our ranks can't either," Yamamoto stated. "Just what to do know… twelfth division taicho is going to seek some sort of punishment, but I think that we all need to be punished for our neglect…"

"And what do you suggest," Unohana shook her head.

"Call a captain's meeting, but send the message directly to Matsumoto fukutaicho and tell her to hold off sending her taicho until he comes back, and if the meeting is over by that time, he is to see you and I directly," Yamamoto stated. "We need to discuss this as a group."

"Perhaps it would be better if we see Hitsugaya Taicho after the meeting, just the two of us. What ever plan we come up with, he will surely think that we are against him instead of helping him, if all of the taicho suddenly come out of the blue and confronted him with the truth of the matter," Unohana taicho sighed.

"Agreed,"

**M**

Nine captains assembled into the usual meeting spot. Yamamoto nodded his head at them. "We can now begin this meeting."

"But Hitsugaya Taicho isn't here," Ukitake suddenly became worried, seeing that the youngest wasn't there. "What exactly is this meeting about that we are called here to discuss things without one of our members who usually is the most prompt among us about showing up?"

"That is exactly what we are here to talk about," Kurotsuchi stated, a great deal of disdain in his voice. "My computers picked up the child having a mental break down somewhere out in the Rukongai. It was erratic, uncontrolled and completely uncalled for behavior for a captain."

"You are certainly one to talk," Shunsui sighed. "Are you absolutely sure that this happened… I mean, the kid has a great deal of control, and he wouldn't purposely try to cause destruction."

"I believe he went out to the Rukongai because he knew that he couldn't control it for once and wanted to cause the least amount of destruction possible, and to make sure no one other then perhaps himself got hurt," Unohana stated.

"So… is he all right?" Ukitake suddenly asked.

"We picked up his reiatsu near that Shiba female's, but that isn't the point of the matter," the scientist stated. "The point is, he lost control, which a captain should not do."

"I think the real point is, why he lost control like he did," Komamura suddenly asked.

"That is in truth the real reason we are here," Yamamoto stated.

"Is the reason that serious that all of us need to be involved," Byakuya asked, his eyes narrowed.

"What happened was that Lieutenant Hinamori Momo said some things that she, under her normal state of mind wouldn't say. Hitsugaya Taicho ended up taking the whole matter hard, and his emotions became uncontrolled," Unohana stated.

"I don't say that is a reason to excuse him for his behavior," Mayuri snapped.

"I don't think it is an issue of excusing him either," Soi Fon stated. "But the question I have, is… why he didn't feel that he could come to any of us with his problems."

"In other words, it isn't just the young one who is at fault here, Kurotsuchi Taicho," Kyoraku stated firmly. "I believe that the only one of us who allowed the young one to be a child some times was Ukitake. Even I haven't."

"Which is exactly why he's not fit to be a taicho," the scientist stated.

"And I wasn't when I first started?" Soi Fon muttered, rolling her eyes. "Look, he is one of the best captains we have, and we are already down three. It would be impractical, not to mention cruel to tell him that because he is as young as he is, he can no longer be a taicho, simply because we haven't allowed him to be a child enough."

Komamura smiled. "I think if two of our older taicho's can have… childish exuberance and look at the world from the view point of a child, I don't see why the youngest can't either. The trick is tricking him into acting his age, when he is used to acting like an adult."

"As if that is possible," Byakuya stated firmly. "The only person I see pulling that of is Kurosaki, and he's leaving tomorrow. To send him with the substitute soul reaper would cause anyone's sanity to break, not mend though. He's too much like… no, wait. He _is _like that person."

"You mean Isshin-san taicho?" Kenpachi finally spoke up, a huge grin on his face. "Yeah, I guess he is, isn't he?"

"We don't mention his name here," Soi Fon narrowed her eyes at the man.

"We don't mention him for the kid's sake, and he isn't here," Kenpachi yawned. "Send him to the living world, he needs the break… but don't tell him it is a break… trick him into thinking that he is going to be helping the substitute soul reaper, since that girl we tried to execute isn't going back. Tell him to let the substitute soul reaper handle things and only step in when needed, as to not insult Ichigo."

"Please tell me, we aren't going to listen to this buffoon's plan. I would have to put a double inhibiter on that child at his current emotional state, before I would allow him into the living world!" the scientist protested.

"Then do so," Yamamoto stated, narrowing his eyes. "We need to learn _not _to push so much on his young shoulders; he needs to learn to be a child and relax, not to mention deal with the issues with Hinamori and a chance to heal. The substitute soul reaper might be able to do this."

The decision was practically unanimous, as even the twelfth division captain couldn't argue with it in the end.

**M**

The night was quiet as Ichigo moved through the streets, close on the heels of the tenth division taicho. The young boy was starting to become irritated. "I don't need to be babysat."

"I am _not _babysitting you… if I was, I'd have to carry you, right, because you would be so small, and you _wouldn't _be talking back," Ichigo stated.

Toshiro's teal eyes suddenly darted back to the person who was following him. "I am not a little kid."

"No… then you would be the size of what, a toddler. Toshiro, I am not blind to the fact you're mature for your age. Hell, the reason…"

"Hitsugaya Toshiro," the boy snapped.

"What ever. The reason I am following you isn't because I feel that under every day circumstances you can't take care of yourself. You wouldn't be a taicho if you weren't at the level that you could. However, everyone has down days, and I think that this is one of yours."

"I didn't ask for you to care," the boy muttered, suddenly turning his head back to front.

"You remind me too much of myself when I was younger… stubborn, and not letting anyone in, so knock it off all ready, I don't buy your act," Ichigo stated firmly.

"I am technically older then you, you know," the boy stated as the temperature dropped.

"And Rukia and Renji are too, yet they are equivalent to my age and act…"

"Just leave me alone all ready," Toshiro was glad that they were nearing his division.

"I don't think you really want to be left alone. I will, however, stop talking, that's all I'll promise," came the teenagers reply.

"Thank you, I guess…" tenth division was now within site, and he saw that Matsumoto was outside of their division, a worried look plastered on her face. He couldn't help but mutter under his breath. "Shit…"

"Taicho!" Matsumoto suddenly raised her hand into the air and waved it. She suddenly rushed forward and squished him into her chest, causing him to suddenly struggle to be released from her grip.

"Umm… hello Rangiku, how are you to day?" Ichigo asked, a little bit bewildered, seeing the two together.

"Ehh… oh, hello, Ichigo Kurosaki… you were looking for Rukia earlier, weren't you?" she asked.

"Are you still drunk?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, on top of Gin being a complete loser, there was… another incident today that upset me. Ne, taicho? I am so sorry that Hinamori and you are…"

"Please don't talk about her. I am going to go into the office to do some paperwork. Please leave me alone," the small boy stormed off.

"Paperwork…" Ichigo scratched his head. "How can that be relaxing…"

"Shut up…" Toshiro's two teal eyes suddenly turned and he glared at the physically older boy. There was an odd glow to them.

"Umm… taicho… you may want to calm you temper… Unohana taicho and the general are in the office for you," she gave a half smile.

"I figured that what I did wouldn't go unnoticed. I am sorry to have caused you such trouble, Lieutenant Matsumoto," the small taicho stated.

"He didn't comment on me being drunk… ohh!" Matsumoto stated. "Though I think that he will comment when he finds out that Unohana taicho and…"

"Matsumoto!"

"I better go, as I shouldn't involve myself further," Ichigo stated, getting a rather uncomfortable look on his face.

"Matsumoto! Get over here now!" came the yell of the small boy.

"He can be a little snot at times, can't he?" Ichigo suddenly asked.

"Well… I kind of deserved it. See… I got myself and two guys drunk, and they kind of… got so drunk that they stripped down to their loin clothes… so… hee!" Matsumoto just smiled at him.

"And they stuck you with him?" Ichigo muttered, his eyes narrowing suddenly.

"I know… I am a bad influence and I am not the best lieutenant when it comes to work. I've known taicho since before he entered the academy though, and I know him the best. The two I got drunk… well, they needed it. They had their taicho's take off on them, so… it was to help them."

"What about the other…"

"Hinamori blew up at taicho today…" Matsumoto sighed, a sad look coming to her face. "She… took things too far, way too far."

"Matsumoto!"

"I really have to go now," the woman smiled at him, then took off to greet her captain.


	5. Karakura Town

**Understanding  
~Karakura Town~**

The thing about the youngest taicho, Hitsugaya Toshiro, was that he ended up finding out things when one didn't want him too, and there were at times that he misconctrued them due to his young viewpoint in life. That was exactly what had happened the night before, when Matsumoto had become angry about the fact that they were sending her taicho away for what he had done.

"The punishment seems extreme," Matsumoto had spoken up in her captain's defense as he chosen not to. "He lost control, yes, but shouldn't you be taking into consideration that he is a child genius."

"We never have taken that into consideration before, but perhaps we should have," Unohana stated.

"No…" Toshiro turned towards the two captains, his face full of disbelief at what they had said. He opened his mouth to say something about not being a child, but for some reason he had stopped short. Matsumoto was still confused, and continued to prattle off.

"He is more mature then most of the adults too…" Matsumoto chided. "Are you asking him to suddenly give up on all this and act like a child?"

"They are Matsumoto," Toshiro stated. "If you don't mind, I'll be heading to bed so I am ready to leave in the morning."

"Taicho…" Matsumoto turned and glared at the two older captains. "I can assure you that he is not the only one who feels betrayed here. However, we both know there is nothing we can do about this."

"Please don't misconstrue what we are doing, Lieutenant Matsumoto," Yamamoto stated firmly. "Hitsugaya Toshiro is not being removed from his position in the Gotei Thirteen."

"Then…" Matsumoto became confused even more.

"Children have different needs then adults do, physically, emotionally, mentally," Unohana stated. "Consider this a chance for a much needed rest, a chance to heal his heart, in more ways then one."

"I… I need to go and see taicho, to see if he needs me," Matsumoto muttered, bowing to the two and taking her leave. She then hurried over to her quarters, and thought she could hear something coming from her taicho's room. She knocked on the wooden pain, only to hear a muffled reply.

"I'm fine, Matsumoto," the young one stated. "I would like to be left alone for now."

'Hai taicho, have a good night, I'll be in my room if you need me," Matsumoto gave a half smile.

**M**

The next morning, Matsumoto went with her taicho to get the power inhibitor that he would need in going to the real world. He was more moody then other days, yet she could also see that he was also tiered, almost as if he didn't sleep at all the night before. She was surprised to find that he had a double inhibitor placed on him, instead of the normal one.

After he had gotten into his gigai that the research department provided, they both went to where the Ryoka were waiting to go through the gate. As they shunpooed over there, she saw her taicho pulling on the clothing, as if Toshiro was uncomfortable. Then again, why wouldn't he be?

They arrived at the place that Ukitake was speaking with Ichigo and his friends, and both saw an item being handed to the orange haired teen. Orihime and he both noticed him and waved at him.

"Oi! Toshiro!"

"Hello Toshiro-kun!"

The small taicho winced as their voices came to their ears. Uryu pushed on his glasses. "It seems that someone is coming with us other then Kuchiki-san?"

"Ahh… yes, about that," Ukitake stated. "Hitsugaya Taicho is going with you, and will help out if needed. He is more of going for observation purposes."

"Let's face it Ukitake," Toshiro grumbled. "I know I blew it the other day… and I'm being punished."

Yoruichi frowned at this, and suddenly hopped onto Ukitake's shoulder. "Are you sure this is a good idea to send him with, and not later?"

"I know it is rather sudden, but truthfully…" Ukitake whispered something into her ear, then handed her a piece of paper. "That is for Urahara."

"All right… lets get going. We have five minutes to get through," the cat stated as the gate activated. "Let's go."

Toshiro turned and gave a quick bow to Matsumoto and Ukitake, before he stepped through the door after them. He had been surprised that no questions had been asked, and he hurried forward. After only a little bit, he heard a rumbling from behind him and heard someone call out, "Not again!" and "Don't we ever get a break!"

Suddenly, the biggest Ryoka grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him up over his shoulder as everyone began somehow to run faster. Toshiro glanced down. "Oi… I can run on my own!"

"Now that he has picked you up, there is no time to put you down!" Yoruichi yelled.

"I am going to have to have a word with the research department about this," the young taicho snapped, rather grumpy about the whole situation, and continued to mutter to himself about something. Suddenly the light from the exit came through and the burst out into the open… air… and they found themselves falling, much to the small taicho's dismay, as the big guy still had a hold on him.

Something blacked out, and then they found themselves on… what seemed to be a giant paper airplane. Toshiro's eyebrow twitched as he continued to say what he had been saying before, not hearing what the others were saying, something about forgiving Ichigo. Or was it something about Kuchiki's sister, he really hadn't a clue as this was an experience he had never expected to live.

At least, that was ever since his taicho had left. He had the feeling something like this would happen if his former taicho was involved. Suddenly Urahara leaned over to hear what he was saying, which for some reason helped him calm down. "Uh huh, uh huh… that might actually work. Leave it to Mayuri to overlook something like that… uh huh…"

"Urahara-san," Uryu folded his arms. "What exactly was he muttering about?"

"Ahh!" Urahara smiled. "His mind was just going around some ideas on how this could be made to not happen again! I wouldn't expect anything less from Soul Societies child prodigy."

The old man began to pat the white head, only to have his hand shoved off. Everyone turned to look at him, making him feel even more uncomfortable. He glanced away, not wanting to look at him. Ichigo was the first to speak up. "Do you have a place to stay, Toshiro?"

"Hitsugaya Taicho…" the boy muttered. "I'll find somewhere… don't worry about it."

The big guy with glasses suddenly folded his arms across his chest. "I don't think so. Even though you are a captain of the Gotei Thirteen, and are adept in many ways, your physical age is a major set back."

"You can stay with us!" Urahara suddenly laughed.

"No way!" came Ichigo's protest, to which Chad and Uryu nodded.

"Then where _is _he going to stay?" Yoruichi tilted her black head.

"Don't I get a say in this…" Toshiro suddenly asked.

"He could stay with me," Orihime smiled.

"No!" suddenly, the three teenaged boys waved their hands in the air, well… two of them did, Chad just grunted.

"Why not?" Orihime suddenly became confused.

"What do you think that someone who looks like a little kid, living with a teenage girl will look like?" Uryu stated firmly as the temperature dropped, yet it was not any where near as noticeable as his usual. "And he can't stay at my place because I'm a Quincy."

"I can cook him food!" Orihime stated, smiling.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Ichigo muttered, becoming irritated. "Chad lives on his own, and that is problematic too."

"Well, that leaves your place," the big giant of the Ryoka stated.

Urahara's eyes suddenly darkened. "No. That won't work."

"He can't stay with you!" Ichigo protested.

"And why not!" the man folded his arms.

"Because you're a pervert," three teenaged boys glared at him.

"Yeah, well… I don't want him around, Mr. High and Mighty," Jinta muttered, suddenly glaring at Toshiro, which caused the white haired taicho to glare back.

"They have a point," Yoruichi purred.

"Can you actually give me a reason why my place is bad?" Ichigo stated. Toshiro raised a finger to protest the whole situation.

"Your family, Kurosaki?" Urahara smiled.

"If Toshiro can deal with some of the crazy shingami in soul society, I think he can deal with my dad," Ichigo stated, folding his arms. "Plus… my dad will welcome him with open arms… if we come up with the right story."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Urahara pulled down his hat.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Toshiro finally got some words in. "I get the idea that you are hiding something from me…"

"Gomen… I can't come up with an argument at this point," Urahara frowned, none to pleased with the situation, knowing that it would likely blow up in their faces, but he also knew he couldn't tell any of them the information he knew.

"Don't…" Toshiro found himself interrupted as Urahara began to drop off the Ryoka one by one.

"So… Ichigo… you're last, right?" the man smiled.

"Hey… Urahara… I think we'll stop here," Ichigo smirked, suddenly grabbing the small boy around the waist and dropping off the edge of the paper plane kite.

As soon as they landed, Toshiro hit him hard. "Did you do this so that I would have no choice but to go with you? I can take care of myself for one thing, and I would have liked to have a say in this!"

Ichigo dumped him on the bank unceremoniously. "Look… if the police catch you out in your gigai, you'll be in serious trouble, unless you have an actual place to stay. I mean, you weren't planning on sleeping on some roof were you?"

"Actually, I was…" Toshiro commented. "I still didn't get a choice in the matter…"

"Oh come on! Urahara is an old pervert! Uryu is a Quincy and hates shingami… Chad… well, I've seen his place, and it is a mess. And as for Orihime… do you really want to eat curried rice with chocolate sauce? That is her kind of cooking, Toshiro," Ichigo stated, letting out a sigh.

"Seriously, it is Hitsugaya Taicho! I know you can't call me by my full title in front of people who don't know about shingami, but would you at least call me by my last name," Toshiro stated.

"I call everyone by their first names that I consider friends," Ichigo scratched his head. He was surprised to see the young shingami's face suddenly get a completely shocked look on his face, losing some of the coldness and oldness that his eyes normally contained. He then glanced away, seeming to be irritated about the matter.

"Anyways… why get off here?" the small taicho stated, none to pleased about the whole matter, as the jump had come rather unexpectedly.

"This is where my mother was killed by a hollow," Ichigo stated. "I kind of wanted to say hello, in a way. I know that her soul was absorbed into him, and he still is alive out there somewhere, but still…"

Toshiro didn't say anything, but instead made a short bow. After he was finished, he looked up to see Ichigo giving him a funny look. "What?"

"Let me guess… you grew up with the old customs to show a great deal of reverence to things like this, right?" Ichigo stated.

"So, what if I was?" the small boy noticed that the temperature drop again, but had the feeling it was only noticeable to him.

"Come on… the nights getting late, and we need to get back to my place so I can switch places with Kon," Ichigo hummed.

"Kon?" Toshiro tilted his head.

"Ahh… he's a mod soul…" Ichigo stated.

"None of my business," the small taicho stated, still rather irritated with everything.

"Follow me…" Ichigo stated. "And if anyone asks, you're heading home… and I'll give you the information you need, if need be."

They continued to walk some ways, until they came to the clinic. Ichigo began to open the door with a hidden key, but found that Toshiro had grabbed onto his shingami sleeve. "First… I don't want it to sound like I am ungrateful, I really am. Second… won't it seem weird if I just walk in like this… in the dark?"

"Well… just say that I told you to come over and talk to me about something," Ichigo frowned. "And anyways… it looks like everyone is asleep. Though… I'm surprised pops isn't up… perhaps we should have used the window…"

"And then cause more trouble," Toshiro shook his head as he followed the substitute shingami up the stairs, to his room. Ichigo found Kon passed out at the desk, and he became irritated as he popped back into his body.

"Sheesh," Ichigo stated, suddenly grabbing the pill and popping it into the lion doll's mouth. "I leave him here, and he can't do the summer homework while I'm away…"

"The colander," Toshiro flipped through it. "It looks like… you have a week to go until school starts. This can't be right… we can't have gone back in time by a whole week…"

"It happened before…" Ichigo yawned.

"What's going on?" Kon stated. "Where's nee-san?"

"Rukia is staying to recoup, so… Toshiro's come to stay instead," Ichigo stated. He then pointed to the bed. "You're the guest… so you can have it."

Kon's eyes suddenly went wide. "Ehh… uhh… it's not fair, why can't you for once bring home a girl with a big bosom for me to cuddle with!"

Before the young taicho could react, Ichigo punched the stuffed animal. "That is exactly why I can't. Sorry for that, he is always like that."

"I'll forewarn Matsumoto before she squeals about how cute it is… it isn't just a dirty old toy, it's a dirty old man," Toshiro stated, causing Ichigo to burst out laughing. "What is so funny?"

"Think carefully about what you just said!" Ichigo stated, as Kon protested the whole matter.

"Ehh…" a small smirk appeared on Toshiro's face, as he lay down. "I guess it was funny. Are you sure you don't want the bed?"

"Positive," Ichigo stated, pulling out some blankets to use on the floor. "Now be forwarded… my family… isn't normal…"

"Family…" this caused the young one to glance away. "Can I just try to get some sleep?"

"Uhh… sure Toshiro," Ichigo scratched his head as the boy went and turned over on his side.


	6. Meet the Kurosakis

**Understanding  
~Meet the Kurosakis~**

The morning came and sun shown through the window in Ichigo's room. The orange haired shingami opened his eyes and glanced around, wondering at first why he was sleeping on the floor. He then remembered that Toshiro had been there the night before, and had been sleeping on his bed. However, the young shingami had somehow disappeared on him, and the bed was neatly made.

He then remembered that the white haired boy hadn't even bothered to crawl under the covers and that he had just slept on top. He also noted that the window was open. Ichigo went and stuck his head out of the window. "Toshiro, are you up there, and did you sleep up their last night?"

There was an irritated grumble, and then he had to dodge as Toshiro swung back into the room. "I was enjoying watching the sunrise, thank you very much."

"Well, sorry," Ichigo stated, moving to his desk. Kon came out of the closet.

"You have to bring Rukia-nee-san back!" the lion doll suddenly cried.

"And you're right… the time did slip back… and it wasn't that moron not removing the calendar pages," Toshiro muttered, closing his eyes as he sat down on the bed. "This means I can't contact Soul Society for awhile, as…"

"The events might be going on and that might cause problems?" Ichigo asked.

"My fukutaicho told me that I was playing a prank on her and that I was in soul society filling out paperwork…" Toshiro opened his eyes.

"Well, that means you're defiantly on vacation, doesn't it?" Ichigo leaned back in his chair, a huge grin on his face. Toshiro only folded his arms and glared at the older boy. This caused the strawberry shingami to let out a sigh. "So, what story should we tell my family?"

"You are the one who came up with the idea of me staying here," Toshiro glared at him. "You come up with it."

"It has to be a half truth… they're easier to remember," Ichigo stated. "Rangiku said that you had some problems with this Hinamori person?"

"It isn't any of your business," came the curt response.

"Well, I believe you were sent here because you lost control last night, and you lost control because of this person. I think it has officially become my business," the teenager threw Kon at the small taicho suddenly.

"Oi!" two teal eyes turned bitter, and Ichigo watched as the young one turned away from him to look out the window.

"You know you can't ignore me on this…"

"Yeah… he'll go kick you but!" Kon stated, only to find himself suddenly muffled by Toshiro pressing down on his head.

"Can he leave and can you promise me that this doesn't go out of this room?" Toshiro suddenly stated.

"Kon, leave," Ichigo stated.

"But… Yuzu will… ahh, no… don't make me leave!' Kon stated, only to find himself grabbed by Ichigo and thrown out of the room.

"Lieutenant Hinamori and I grew up in Rukongai together. She blamed me for Aizen leaving. End of story," Toshiro stated.

"No… it's not," Ichigo stated, getting up and turning Toshiro around. "You don't have to get into details, just what I need to know."

Without looking the living person in the face, Toshiro took a deep breath. "She told me we aren't family anymore, because she blames me for what happed to Aizen."

"I take it… never mind," Ichigo began to think. "We'll just say you have family problems and your sister isn't feeling well."

"I can take care of myself," the small taicho gave him a livid look. He hopped up and stood up. "So… I guess I meet your family. Joy…"

"Yeah… come on downstairs. My two sisters are your age," Ichigo stated, then went to close the window. "It's a nice breeze out, but really would hate for my homework gets blown around."

"My age… I highly doubt that," Toshiro got a funny look of amusement on his face.

"All right, all right, it's like how Rukia is older then me, but physically she's the same age as me… that kind of thing," Ichigo stated, suddenly seeing Toshiro pale.

"I don't… do well with kids," Toshiro muttered.

"You _are _a kid," Ichigo stated.

"I am not!" Toshiro protested becoming angry.

"Never mind… Yuzu is going to be making breakfast soon, so we'd better make sure she knows to set a plate for you."

"Not hungry," came yet another curt reply as Toshiro remained in place.

"Karin will pulverize you if you make Yuzu upset. And then there's…" Ichigo frowned at this. "_He _didn't sneak attack me this morning. That is weird…"

"Who… Kon?" the small taicho followed the taller male downstairs.

"No… my father," Isshin heard some movement in the kitchen. "I wonder where he got to. Hey, Yuzu… did dad open up the clinic early this morning?"

"No… the clinic always opens as soon as you two get into a fight," Yuzu suddenly came out of the kitchen in an apron and holding a spatula. "Ehh… are you one of Karin's friends who came for a visit. She… doesn't tend to tell anyone where we live."

"I…" Toshiro blinked in surprise at this statement.

"No… Toshiro here…"

"Hitsugaya… don't call me by my first name Kurosaki," Toshiro suddenly skirted slightly behind Ichigo.

"He is having problems family wise and…" Ichigo started out saying, only to have Yuzu suddenly crying. She shoved the spatula into Ichigo's hand and suddenly threw her arms around Toshiro's neck, causing the young taicho's entire body to freeze. He let out a chocking sound, more from shock, then from anything else.

"Poor Toshiro-kun! I'm sure daddy will let him stay!" Yuzu cried, balling tears into the black shirt he was wearing.

"Um… Yuzu… I think I've told you before, that not all the guys your age like being hugged, right?" Ichigo scratched his head. She didn't respond and continued crying. "Umm… I think breakfast might be burning…"

"Oh…" Yuzu suddenly had a twinkle in her eyes. She grabbed the spatula and hurried off. "I had better set another spot too."

The teenager gave Hitsugaya a short shake, jarring him back to his senses. "Sorry about that…"

Foot steps were suddenly heard on the footsteps. Karin peeked around the corner. "Oh… your around Ichi-nii… dad didn't try something this… who's he?"

"He's going to be staying with us because of family problems," Yuzu called out from the kitchen.

"Says who?" Karin folded her arms across her chest. One white eyebrow went up, in an almost told you so manner to the substitute soul reaper.

"Ichi-nii did," Yuzu stated.

"Oh no… dad may be loony, but he's the boss. There is no way he'll let some stranger stay here, no matter what their sob story is," Karin stated.

"Pancakes are on the table!" Yuzu called out suddenly.

Karin hurried over to the table, and Ichigo started, then noticed Toshiro wasn't following and was glancing away. This caused him to roll his eyes and grab the kid's shoulder and drag him over to the table. Yuzu began to serve up the hot pancakes. Toshiro held still and just stared at the plate in front of him. Yuzu then made a pouty face. "I'm going to go and see if daddy is in the clinic and make him come eat."

After Yuzu left, Hitsugaya felt himself kicked from under the table. He turned to the perpetrator who was stuffing pancakes into her mouth. "You had better eat Yuzu's cooking."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, and the white haired boy let out a sigh, and cut off a piece, and reluctantly stuck it into his mouth. The door between the house and the clinic clicked open and Yuzu came through dragging someone behind her. "I can't believe that you forgot about eating oto-san!"

"But Yuzu-chan!" came the protest from a very familiar voice.

"You'll eat!" Yuzu stomped her little foot.

"Mama! The kids are being mean again!" came the voice again, way to familiar to Toshiro, who suddenly turned around, his eyes wide, only to choke on the piece of pancake in his mouth.


	7. Embarrassment

**Understanding  
~Embarrassment~**

"Mama! The kids are being mean again!" The voice was defiantly very familiar. The small taicho had turned around, the familiarity drawing him to do so. Not only did he find the voice familiar, but the man crying to what looked to be a giant movie picture was someone he never thought he would see again, as he was supposed to be dead.

"_He doesn't recognize me…_" Toshiro was rather in shock, so unexpectedly did this come, that the one bit he had managed to get into his mouth went down his air tube.

"Dad… Toshiro is having family…" However, Ichigo stopped speaking in his tracks and sprung to his feet as he heard the young taicho begin to choke. He couldn't help but wonder if his father's odd ball luck had come into play.

"Ahh… Shiro-chan needs a place to stay!" Isshin suddenly hugged the white haired boy from behind, causing the pancake to come unlogged and hit an all ready irate Karin in the chest. No matter who it had hit, it would have been embarrassing, but what added to it was the black haired girl was defiantly not happy with his intrusion into the house.

As Karin stared at her shirt in rather huge shock, her temper growing even more, Isshin spoke again. "Go ahead and call me oto-san!"

Ichigo was watching Toshiro carefully and saw the young boy's body tense up at being touched. And, as he easily guessed, Toshiro somehow managed to wriggle away. "Oto-san… hell no! Don't touch me! Don't call me Shiro-chan!"

"_He didn't smell right… and I can't sense his reiatsu…_"

"_It's been awhile, little one, and maybe he's just hiding his reiatsu,_"

"I know goat beard can be obnoxious and isn't completely insane, but you don't need to be rude!" Karin stated, standing up so her chair clattered to the ground.

"This isn't going to work Kurosaki…" Toshiro directed at Ichigo, glancing at the ground as he did so. The tone sounded somewhat hurt, but Toshiro's expression his this, except for his eyes. To anyone not looking for the tell tale signs, it might look like he was showing disdain.

"It isn't Karin's choice," Ichigo stated. "It's dads. Try to give it a little more time."

"You should really try to eat," Yuzu murmured, worried about how everyone was so tense, unless you included the old man.

"I'm not hungry…" came the reply.

Suddenly, Karin shot towards him, grabbing the plate of pancakes. Hitsugaya couldn't help but let out an undignified yelp as she shoved the whole mess into his face. "I don't care how nice oto-san, Ichi-nii and Yuzu-chan are to you… that's an especially bad reason to be mean to any of them! As far as I'm concerned, you'll never be a part of this family!"

While a certain someone stood completely rigid, his body stiffening, he felt someone reach from behind him and grab the plate. "Karin… lease go to your room. Ichigo… I think you have homework still to do, and Yuzu… didn't you have a huge grocery list?"

Ichigo let out a small grumble as he grabbed Karin's shoulder and his plate of food from the table. Yuzu commented on something about finishing eating in their rooms, and she grabbed her and her sister's plate. After they were gone, Isshin carefully removed the plate to reveal a very irate young man.

"Come on Hitsugaya… over to the kitchen sink," Isshin shook his head at the humorous look on his face.

"I can do this on my own!" the small boy snapped.

"Fine, I need to give Karin a lecture about her behavior anyways," Isshin stated, squeezing the small boy's shoulder.

Toshiro stepped over to the sink and turned on the water, letting it feel up. He then dunked his head in, after taking a deep breath. He had to think about the revelations that had just happened. He eventually came up for breath and reached up to find some of his hair was sticky, not to mention his face.

He then put some of the dishwashing soap into his hands and created a nice lather in his hands, then used it on the sticky parts of his face and hair. He then took another breath and dunked his head in again, and when he came up this time, he drained the sink.

He watched the water draining and left a bubbly residue. However, he caught site of his reflection in the metal. His hair was a shaggy, sopping mess, and two teal eyes went wide as memories began flooding in. He soon collapsed to the ground, frustrated with everything.

Aizen had said, '_admiration is the furthest thing from understanding'_. It had been Aizen who had reported that Isshin was dead. Had Isshin sided with him and manipulated his own son in this whole mess. Hitsugaya suddenly felt a rising panic in his chest.

His dragon zanpaktou tried to calm him down as his hair dripped water onto the floo. Suddenly, a towel hit him in the back of the head and he caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of his eye, sitting down near him. "Are you all right Toshiro?"

Suddenly, the small taicho began to pull away from the man, only to pull away from the man only to be grabbed. "Hey… whatever is the matter?"

Hitsugaya at first hesitated, then sat down next to his former taicho. "Are you… aligned with Aizen?"

"Hell no, where'd that come from," Isshin let out a chuckle. However, the small boy remained silent, causing the old man to look at the ceiling. "Hey, would you mind not telling those three I used to be a shingami?"

"Excuse me?" the towel was pulled back to reveal two very emotional teal eyes. Toshiro fingered the cloth, and there was confusion and curiosity evident.

"Karin, Yuzu and Ichigo don't know," Isshin stated firmly.

"No… taicho, you said, used to be a shingami, not used to be a captain,"

"Ever the observant one, aren't you," Isshin smiled half heartedly. "That day I disappeared, Aizen sealed my abilities."

"So that's why I couldn't sense your reiatsu…" Toshiro muttered. "You were hiding from me… weren't you?"

"Yes…" Isshin glanced away from the boy.

"I hate you, you know that," came the apt reply.

They sat there for awhile, when Yuzu and Ichigo both came down stairs. "I'm off to get groceries."

Ichigo walked over and folded his arms across his chest. "Pretending to be in the same mood as him is counter productive in getting him into a good mood."

The next thing they knew, Isshin was bawling his head of to the poster again. At the site of it, Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I'm really sorry about my family Toshiro, especially for what Karin did."

"Are the other options of where I could stay worse then this?" came Hitsugaya's question as he grabbed the counter and pulled himself up.

"Uryu is a Quincy and hates Shingami, Orihime will poison you unintentionally with her cooking, and Chad talks very little, not to mention lives on his own and has a pig sty for a house."

"What about Urahara?"

"Hat and clogs?" Ichigo shook his head. "That guy… how to put it, I don't trust him but I don't not trust him. He keeps to many secrets."

"Keeps to many secrets?" Toshiro's eyes went wide, then glanced at the ground. "I need to talk to him about something…"

"You aren't staying with him Toshiro," Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"No… if I did though, it would be none of your business… or your families…" The last statement, Ichigo couldn't help but notice, seemed to be directed towards his father.

**M**

Urahara was bored out of his mind, almost no one came by his shop yet today. That was until a certain shingami captain stepped through the door way. Jinta turned and glared at him.

"I thought you were going to stay at strawberry's snowball,"

"Jinta… please take Ururu outside. I think the young taicho is here to speak to me about a private matter," the man stated, his countenance becoming dark.

"How he could be a captain, I don't know. He's puny… not much taller then I am…"

"When they were gone, Toshiro spoke up. "You knew, didn't you?"

"Haven't a clue what your talking about?" Urahara stated.

"You knew that my former taicho was alive and also that he was the father of the substitute soul reaper," came the irritated reply.

Urahara got from behind his sales counter and walked over to the small boy with his fan closed when he was close enough, he swung his fan as if he were going to hit Toshiro with it, however, stopped only a few millimeters from his check.

"You don't know how to read when someone isn't happy speaking about a certain situation, do you?" Urahara's eyes were still dark.

"If your worried about me saying anything about him to soul society, I have one week where I can't communicate with them. That should give me time to asses the situation, doesn't it?"

"Why do you speak of this so emotionlessly?" Urahara pulled his fan back. "You can't treat this situation as if it is some sort of military problem."

"The last time I let my emotions take a hold of me it didn't end well. Or the time just before that," Hitsugaya Toshiro replied.

Suddenly, the fan did hit him across the cheek. Urahara frowned at him. "I don't have patience for children who are immature about the way they handle their emotions. I'd expected something much different from what I had heard about you."

"What… form Shihoin-san's coming and goings?" The boy narrowed his eyes. "I do know that losing my control and spreading ice around when I lose it is immature behavior. That's why I'm here, isn't it? I know I have to learn to control it."

"You surmised that she's been going back and forth because?" Urahara frowned.

"Other then what you said, you two had way too much current information about soul society. You block market products too, from what I hear."

"You were able to figure that out, but you've come up with some major misconstructions about the other thing…" Urahara suddenly went and sat behind the counter. "Most people would have figured out the other thing first, and only a select few I guess, what you did."

The man motioned Toshiro to step over to the counter. The boy had a confused look on his face. "You speak like I missed something important about why they sent me here."

"Let me have a chance to think of a way to explain it to you so you can understand," the man folded his arm. "Yoruichi… she told me that you were one of the first to suspect something was wrong."

"Yeah… but I just noticed Gin and completely missed Aizen," the boy glanced away, irritated in what he thought was his mistake. "I should have…"

"Something bothered you about him?" the shopkeeper asked, suddenly becoming curious.

"Well… no one is that perfect, are they? Yet all I ever heard from Hinamori is how great he is… was… no, is. She's still fixated on that monster," the boy muttered.

"Maybe Aizen knew that because of your connection with Hinamori, that you would give him the benefit of the doubt?" Urahara watched as two eyes went wide with dismay, then more irritation showed. "He basically used one of your strong qualities against you along with one of your weaknesses… which also explains why you misconstrued… certain things."

"What… might those be?" the boy asked.

"Your intelligence level is extremely high and you have a high moral code and honor system, especially for someone as young as you. You also have a way of blocking out thing if it might hurt someone you care about, or the way people look at you. Because in the long run, it will in turn hurt you."

"So… this has to deal with the fact that Hinamori lashed out at me?"

"That… is actually what I was talking about, but I was thinking in particular to your current… blocking and missing of important truth."

"And that would be… because,"

"Still blocking out the truth. I will give it to you straight and as it is, because to many people have been avoiding that. You know you're a child right?" the man asked.

"I know my powers are…" Toshiro stopped when Urahara waved his finger indicating that was a no-no answer. "I know I am younger then a good deal of shingami, but…"

"You are considered mature for your age?" the man finished. "Do you really thing that it is because you don't act enough like an adult that you were sent away?"

"Doesn't everyone see me as a child?" came the confusion back.

"Actually, the problem they told me was that they forgot you were a child," the man couldn't help but smirk at the fact that there was suddenly a bewildered look on the preteen shingami's face.

The boy's left hand sliced through the air. "That can't be possible!"

"Let me ask you Toshiro-kun, when was the last time, other then losing your emotions, that you got to act like a child, and how often. Even Byakuya acted like a child at one point. The four oldest taicho can act like children at times, yet be mature about it."

This caused the young one to glance at the floor, suddenly drained of energy and color in his face. "It's different though…"

"Hey… Toshiro-kun… how many people do you know that care about you?" Urahara smiled, causing the boy to glance up.

"That… cares about me?" Hitsugaya looked up, his eyes quite distant. "Granny… Matsumoto… I guess…"

"Oi… you forgot someone there that should be rather obvious," the fan fanned out.

"Ichigo… you have got to be…" came the start at a reply.

"Close, and yes… but I was talking about someone else…" Urahara stated.

"Taicho…" the boy turned to leave. "I don't see the point of asking that… and I am not sure if you are right."

"I've dealt with him the last twenty years," the man smiled as the boy stepped through the door, giving off the final remark. "A lot more people than you realize care about you."


	8. Bonding

**Understanding  
**_**~Bonding~**_

There are certain aspects of oneself, that one holds onto, and there are things that one denies being true, even if deep down, the truth is known. When the aspects that one holds onto are tarnished, or someone slams the truth into ones face, it hurts. And the truth, sometimes, one doesn't know why it hurts, or why people are that upfront about things.

If one saw a white haired boy wandering around every so often, looking at the sky, and staring for ten to twenty minutes at each point that they stopped, one probably might not realize that this what was going on in the young man's head, There are some aspects, no matter how hurt a person gets, some of these people simply are still able to hide the pain, for the most part.

Of course, if one were to ask him directly, what he was doing, wandering about the area, Hitsugaya Toshiro was likely to tell people that he was new to the area and trying to get a grip on his bearings. Though of course, there would be some people who might suspect him of being a juvenile delinquent, simply from the way that he looked.

Usually, the small taicho could simply block out all the negative and depressing thoughts that crossed his mind. However, for some reason, looking at the sky did not have a calming effect on him, and he couldn't think logically about the issues at hand.

"Toshiro-kun?" came a sudden, soft, child like voice.

Confused as to who could possibly know him, and why the voice seemed somewhat familiar, he glanced up and recognized the person. "Kurosaki-san?"

Yuzu gave him a bemused smile. "Don't you think you'll have to call Karin-chan and me by our first names?"

"I…" the young taicho suddenly glanced gloomily at the ground. "I guess you're right, as there are two of you, and it would be problematic otherwise."

"You shouldn't mind what Karin said," the young girl continued smiling. "She can say some things at times that she doesn't mean."

"I think she meant it," Toshiro stated, noting that Yuzu was caring a few grocery bags. "I could carry those…"

"Ehh… I can do it myself," However, Toshiro took the bags from her anyways.

"My granny would tan my hide if I didn't," he muttered, swinging one load over his shoulder.

"Well… I guess we both can go home now!" Yuzu stated, suddenly taking off down the sidewalk.

"Home…?" The tone of his voice caused Yuzu to stop in her tracks, turn, and look at him. There was a look of utter confusion on his face, not to mention sadness in his eyes.

"I know that it isn't the home you know, but you'll be staying with us, right? So until then, it can be your home," Yuzu managed to continue to smile.

"Home… do I even know what that is?" he muttered, not realizing that his words were out loud.

"But… didn't you live with your grandma and sister for a long time?" something told him that it was best to be honest with the girl. Something about her aura left him to believe this, yet he also knew he didn't have to tell her the whole truth.

"I thought you were living with your sister?"

"I've been living on my own for awhile to…" came another mutter from the small taicho.

"Is that then what you and your sister argued about?" Yuzu piped up.

"Ehh… no…" he suddenly saw the confusion in her face. "Look, it is a long and drawn out story…"

"But, is it even legal for an elementary school student to be living on their own?" Yuzu commented, almost causing Toshiro to drop the bags.

"You think… I'm a little… kid?" Toshiro snapped.

The short haired girl wasn't fazed by his tone. "Well, you're the same height as Karin and me roughly, so that means your around our age, right? Maybe we'll be in the same class together, or are you a grade lower or higher?"

"Kinda… probably not…" again, confusion was written on his face.

"Oh, we're here!" Yuzu smiled as they came to the house with the small clinic attached to it, just in time to hear a loud crashing sound.

"What the hell is that…?" Toshiro muttered, though he really didn't want to know.

"Oh!" Yuzu made an irritated face, which was the kind that got people to do things not because it scared the people she glared at, but because she was so adorable when she did it. "Daddy and Ichi-nii are fighting again!"

"Why does that not surprise me…" Toshiro muttered, as he watched Yuzu hurry in, remembering to clearly how his taicho was so long ago. He peeked in to see her berating them, to no effect.

"You two stop it!" came her quiet voice. Toshiro had his doubts she could yell, while on the other hand, he didn't think Karin could do anything but be brash.

He walked over so that he could see what was going on better, setting the groceries down on the table. He soon learned this was a mistake, as… "Ahh, Papa is so glad that his younger son has come home! It was so nice of him to carry those for his sister!"

The thing about Isshin is, once you knew him, you knew exactly when he was going to hug you, and there were some people who had developed extinctive reflexes. Toshiro was one such person, whose instinct was, when hugged from the front, was to take a knee to the groin of the man.

However, for some off reason, instead of hitting Kurosaki Isshin where he expected to, his knee landed a blow in the stomach. And, to his dismay, this allowed Isshin to wrap him in a hug, a tight one that was hard to struggle out of.

"_Why the hell does he like embarrassing you… the reason he does it…"_

"_I don't think it has to do with embarrassing you… the reason he does it…"_

"_And he doesn't sell right," _only got laughter from Hyorinmaru.

Suddenly he felt himself being pulled from the grip of the old man. He also heard the male substitute shingami's voice speaking up. "Dad, you're going to suffocate him! Not everyone is comfortable with huge amounts of affection!"

"Oh…" Isshin frowned playfully. Toshiro caught a glimpse of mischievousness twinkle in the man's eye, due to the fact that out of all the people here, he knew the young taicho the best.

Ichigo then grabbed Toshiro from behind, around the chest, and hauled him up the stairs and into his room, kicking the door shut behind him. He pushed Toshiro into the desk chair and then sat down heavily on the bed. "Toshiro… was my dad bothering you earlier… before you took off?"

"I don't get why you even bother asking," Toshiro was sitting on the chair backwards, his face buried in the chair back.

"Because you're a guest in this hose, and the welcome you received wasn't a nice one. Karin…"

"I'm used to it…" came the muffled reply from the back of the chair.

At first, Ichigo didn't key into the meaning of the words. However, when he did, he suddenly pulled the chair closer with his foot and grabbed a hold of Toshiro by the hair on the back of his head. He gently pulled s that Toshiro was forced to look him strait in the face. "What exactly are you used to?"

"None of your business…" two teal eyes tried to look away.

"I thought that you were supposed to be a captain, Toshiro…" Ichigo stated, trying to hit a nerve, the right one.

"And you know what!" came the sudden snapping reply as the young man forced Ichigo to let go of him. "You're not the only one who has doubts about whether or not I should be a captain of the gotei thirteen or not!"

"I never said that you shouldn't be a captain Toshiro," Ichigo folded his arms across his chest and pulled back slightly.

"Then what did '_I thought that you were supposed to be a captain' _mean!" Toshiro wasn't looking at him, but an off spot on the wall.

"I meant, shouldn't you know that certain kind of disrespects aren't deserved by anyone… well, possibly, disincluding them…"

"What do you call, not calling me by my proper title!" the boy snapped, turning towards him.

"Well… I guess that can be a form of disrespect. I was talking about the fact no one deserves to be treated meanly," Ichigo scratched his head.

"You just completely lost me… " Toshiro's two eyes narrowed, glaring at the substitute soul reaper.

"The way you spoke a few minutes ago… it said that you felt like you should be treated like dirt," Ichigo gave a half smile, worry written in his eyes.

"That's true, isn't it…" Toshiro gave him a weak smile. "I may have been the first to notice Gin's treachery, but I completely missed Aizen."

"So… hold it, you weren't the only one!" Ichigo stuttered out, rather annoyed.

"I should have… Urahara pointed out that I probably did… but because of Hinamori, I didn't want to admit there was a problem…"

"I… I am specifically talking about my sister being mean to you…" Ichigo closed his eyes and pinched his nose.

"So… I know that a good deal of people think I'm a freak because of my coloring…"

"You don't think I haven't received guff for my looks? I don't think that's why Karin decided to suddenly pick on you either. But even I know, that kind of treatment isn't right," Ichigo stated. "Tell me, in a good, strong argument, that you deserved to be treated rudely?"

At that, instead of waiting for an answer, Ichigo went and disappeared down the stairs. Toshiro buried his head in his arms, only to jump a few minutes later as something cold was pressed against the back of his neck. "Hey!"

"Have you had a soda before?" Ichigo asked.

Toshiro's head popped up, complete surprise on his face, not to mention there was a bit of childish glee. However, the glee quickly left, as the small taicho pulled himself in check. "What kind of question was that?"

"Rukia was completely clueless when it came to opening a juice pack," Ichigo stated, clinking the cans onto the desk top as he set them down.

"I've had soda before…" Toshiro muttered, giving the teenager a confused look.

"Rukia was completely clueless when it came to opening a juice pack," Ichigo stated, clinking of the cans could be heard as the substitute shingami set a bunch of cans onto the desk.

"I've had soda before…" Toshiro muttered as he gave the teenager a confused look.

Kon took the time to sneak out of the closet. "Did you bring yummy stuff?"

"Toshiro gets to pick first,"

"Ehh…" Kon sat on the floor, his arms crossed and a rather displeased look on his face.

"So… how come you came to try soda?" Ichigo asked. When he didn't receive an answer, he took a gander at the small boy, only to find him with a faraway look on his face. "So… what soda do you want?"

"I…" suddenly Toshiro's face turned stubborn. "No…"

"No isn't a flavor. Pick one," came the insistent reply.

"I'm not going to do something childish and drink soda!"

As the small taicho snapped at him, Ichigo's eyebrows snapped up. "Adults drink soda. Why would you… you have a sweet tooth, don't you… and you don't want people to know because they might think you're a little kid because of it."

"I don't have a sweet tooth…" However, the small taicho felt something cold touch his cheek. "Hey!"

"Just drink it… and stop being a baby about the whole thing!"

At that, the small taicho took the drink rather reluctantly, a look of irritation on his face from Ichigo's comment. However, he popped the can open, and took a drink. "Root beer?"

"Ahh… see. I knew you had a sweet tooth,"

"Oi" Suddenly the small taicho shoved the soda back at him. "I don't want it!"

However, the strawberry shingami simply shook his head. "I think we need to lay down some ground rules while you're here… other then what my dad might put into place."

"Fuck you…" Toshiro muttered, sticking the soda on the table, only to have Ichigo slap him on the back of the head.

"Something you need to know, if my dad catches you saying bad words, he will not hesitate to wash your mouth out with soap, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Toshiro acted like he didn't care, but inwardly he winced.

"Well, rule one, in my room, when it's the two of us, you are free to act as silly as you want, or free to act and yell out if you need to," Ichigo stated, drinking his soda.

"How come I got left with the strawberry soda!" Kon complained.

"For obvious reasons… I don't drink that type…" Ichigo stated.

"What about him," Toshiro growled.

"Rule two, if Kon breathes word… well, he doesn't want to know," Ichigo glared at the stuffed animal.

"Hey! Why is it I get the brunt of all of this!"

"In other words, feel free to act like yourself…" Ichigo stated.

"I already am…" Toshiro muttered, as he took a drink of the root beer.

_Author's note – In life, things happen, so then things end up not getting done like one wants. I've had a stress filled time since last update, which was all the way… about three weeks ago. One thing after another, smash. Anyways, I think there were some questions asked.  
__**~Don't other's care about Toshiro? **__Yeah, but he can't list them if he doesn't realize that they care about him, can he?  
__**~Does Karin hate Toshiro? **__I'll say that she doesn't hate Toshiro. It is just that their personalities clashed at this time, to start off with. Can't tell you guys much, because of the fact that would give away spoilers.  
__**~Why does Toshiro miss so much obvious things, like what happened to Isshin? **__Think about Toshiro's equivalent age level first, then about how stubborn he is, not to mention the shock from what Momo said to him, and the shock of finding his former taicho._


	9. Confirmation

**Understanding  
**_**~Confirmation~**_

Expressing ones feelings in a way that completely let lose, with no control, was an extremely childish concept. As was any rule that purposely allowed for such behavior. Hitsugaya's impression of the substitute was one of complete and utter confusion.

That was until one thought about the fact that Ichigo was the son of his former taicho, meaning that illogic ran in the family. But there was also a major softness there that was not the same, which meant it came from their mother.

"_I wonder what she was like?_" Toshiro thought to himself.

"_You could ask Kurosaki-san about her,_" his dragon hummed.

"_As if I care. The only real connection to this family is through Isshin-san taicho, and don't say through the substitute soul reaper, I really don't know him,_" the small taicho thought. He watched as Ichigo began to gather pens, pencils, paper and books from the desk. "I could move you know…"

"Nah… it really doesn't matter where I study, does it? Research shows it is better to be comfortable when you study, then not," the orange haired boy commented, as he plopped down onto the bed.

"Sounds like an excuse to goof off," the white haired boy muttered, taking a sip of his soda without realizing it.

"Mmm… perhaps it does sound that way," Ichigo stated, cracking a book open. If he really were studying, it would be extremely rude to talk right now.

Out of complete boredom, Toshiro began to take in his surroundings. This wasn't a bad idea, as he would be staying in the room while he was here. And what he saw, didn't exactly match with what he thought he should see.

His impression of the substitute shingami when he met him was someone like Lieutenant Abarai. He had a vague remembering of that particular reaper during the academy days, and remembered others commenting about his messiness, particularly Kira to Momo.

Not that they noticed he was listening. But neither one would have found a complaint about this room, as it was as neat as a pin. A guitar in one corner showed an interest in music, possibly rock and roll. Then there was the matter of the bookshelf, which he couldn't hop but stare at.

Is something the matter Toshiro?" Ichigo suddenly spoke up.

"Ahh… no…." the white haired boy was suddenly staring at Ichigo, having been brought out of his trance. Something then clicked and his greenish eyes narrowed. "It's Hitsugaya Taicho."

"Whatever… you were staring at my bookshelf for time now," Ichigo commented, barely glancing up from his schoolwork. "About half an hour I guess."

"That long…" Toshiro's eyes fell on the clock and confirmed it had been longer.

"If you want to read a book, you don't need to ask," Ichigo still wasn't looking up.

"No… that isn't…" Toshiro stopped and reformed his train of thought. "You like Shakespeare?"

"William Shakespeare is one of the greatest author's and playwrights of all time. If he had modern day lighting… or even a computer… imagine how many more epic theatrical productions he would have produced,"

"True…" the small taicho was still in shock from the sudden revelation.

"Gomenasai… I'm probably boring you," Ichigo murmured, giving Toshiro a weak smile.

"Well, duh… who wants to listen to some stuffy old shirt," came Kon's voice from under the bed.

"No… I…" Toshiro found the door to the room creeping open, and stopped short.

"Hey you two… dinner's ready," Yuzu then closed the door. When this was said and done, the small taicho's stomach growled, causing his cheeks to turn red from embarrassment.

"You haven't eaten since this morning… it's even doubtful you ate anything this morning," Ichigo nodded his head towards the door. "If you don't come eat something, I'll kick your butt."

"As if…" came the reply as two eyes glared at the teenager. He however, did follow him downstairs. Yuzu had set four places at the table.

"Hey, Karin not eating with us… or did you forget we have a fifth person, Yuzu?" Ichigo teased his little sister, as he took a seat.

"No… dad decided to go out drinking," Yuzu scowled, dishing up spaghetti squash, chicken and tomato sauce onto each plate. She then glanced at Toshiro, who was standing behind the chair. "You can go ahead and sit down."

"Ahh… all right…" he pulled out his chair, and sat down. The over accepting nature of the family felt overwhelming. He also had problems with the fact that people just sat down at the table. That morning, Ichigo had too literally drag him to his seat. He wanted to leave, but to him it would be more embarrassing to leave the table and be rude to them. "_Taicho is purposely trying to avoid me…_"

"_That may not necessarily be true…_"

"_I may have just compromised his freedom and safety, along with his families… I wouldn't blame him for hating me for it… or avoiding me for that matter…_"

"_Maybe you don't want to send information about his whereabouts…_"

"_Oh… I plan on it as soon as enough time rolls around. I am sending it directly to General Yamamoto._"

"_You sure you want to do that?_"

"Toshiro… you can eat now," Ichigo stated, just in time for Karin to come down the stairs, looking completely miffed about the whole situation. She attempted to sit as far away from him as possible.

"Hey Karin… maybe you can let Toshiro play soccer with…" Ichgio found himself interrupted by two people, while Yuzu watched in surprise.

"Hell no…" both iterated the same answer.

"You two really need to lighten up…" Ichigo muttered, his expression and mood becoming dark. He dug his fork into his food and took a huge bite, chewing moodily.

"Well, tomorrow is the day we planned on shopping for school supplies. Are you sure you wanted to get Hello Kitty themed stuff, Ichi-nii?" Yuzu stated as she sat down so she too could eat.

Toshiro suddenly glanced at the older boy, only to see a very similar look on his face, meaning that Kon possibly had something to do with this. "Uhh… if I said that, I was probably joking…"

"Didn't I tell you Yuzu, it wasn't Ichi-nii… it was someone else…" Karin muttered, her mouth full of food, which caused Toshiro's eyebrows to twitch and for something important to go over his head at that moment.

"But… how could it not have been Ichigo?" Yuzu asked as the one in question motioned the word _Kon_ to the small taicho. "You've said that quite a few times lately…"

"Well… it isn't. Just like that kid jumping twenty feet in the air over our school fence wasn't Ichi-nii," the other girl smiled.

"But… oh…" Yuzu scowled. Toshiro glared at the substitute shingami, who mouthed that he would explain the situation later.

"So, Toshiro… what school are you going too?" Karin suddenly asked.

"What…" the white haired boy suddenly gave her a confused look.

"Oh… come on… that is an easy question. Will you be going to our elementary school… or another one?"

"Nani…" the small taicho's face suddenly contorted with mortification.

Karin narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, you don't have to act so disgusted."

"I think he just realized that he doesn't know which school he's going to," Ichigo stated, giving Toshiro a look, not to mention a kick under the table. "Right?"

"Owe…" Toshiro muttered under his breath due to the pain in his shin. "I guess so…"

Karin narrowed her eyes suddenly. "You do know what grade you're in, right?" Karin stated.

"What kind of question is that…" came the muttered annoyance.

"Ahh… Karin, did you leave a window open somewhere…"

"No…"

"Stop teasing him Karin. You're having too much fun, while he is not," Ichigo sighed. The darker haired of the two girls glanced at him with a funny look on her face, then she scowled at him. Everyone knew that the dinner would be a silent one from then on out.

**M**

Contrary to Toshiro's thoughts, Isshin hadn't gone out to drink to avoid the small taicho. The reasons he did go out though, did in fact involve the boy though, for what better way, not to mention rather discrete way to get information from his old friend, then to drink with him.

The ex-taicho couldn't help but be concerned why Hitsugaya had been ushered to the living world with more than a fraction of his powers. It was customary to cut a lieutenants power down to a fifth, but what he sensed was defiantly more than that.

As he went and sat down in his usual spot, the bartender walked over. "That police lieutenant friend of yours called to too let you know he can't make it tonight, as he got called in."

"Ahh… well, the others will be here soon," Isshin smirked, ordering his normal.

"_That is a rather good thing, that he isn't coming tonight, isn't it?_"

"_I guess that is true… long time not hearing from you. I didn't think I ever would again._"

"_You still don't have a scrap of your powers back yet._"

"_What a lame disappointment,_" Isshin stated, seeing Tessai, Yourichi and Urahara step into the bar. The ex-taicho waved them over. "Nice to see you guys."

"Atsuo-san not coming?" the biggest of them asked, taking a seat. "I was looking forward to arm wrestling him."

"You shouldn't stereotype cops," the black cat lady smirked. "There's me and plenty of other's here to arm wrestle."

"True…" Tessai stated, as the other two launched into conversation.

"Does your son realize that tonight is your drinking night?" the pin striped hat man laughed.

"Most likely not," Isshin stated as drinks were brought over, all the usual. "I need to talk to you about Shiro-chan.

"Actually, I'm kind of glad Atsuo wasn't able to make it tonight," Urahara suddenly wasn't smiling. "Because I need to talk to you about that boy."

"Is it about why he's here?" Isshin chugged down on his drink.

"No. It's the fact that you are now compromised with him being here," Urahara narrowed his eyes as he pulled out a deck of cards and began dealing them.

"Come on, Urahara…"

"Are you going to tell me he isn't going to go by the book on this one," the man stated, as if he knew exactly what the small taicho would do when the time came that he could finally contact Soul Society.

"I trust Toshiro to do what he feels is right," came the firm response.

"Even if it means turning you in?"

"Even if it means turning me in," Isshin took the cars given to him.

"I can't accept that kind of answer. There is a chance that we'll need you in the coming war, Isshin. Maybe you might no longer have your powers, but your mind, with its knowledge of Gin and Aizen… is an asset in itself. Plus, I think I have a fool proof way to get your powers back,"

"That could mean anything, doesn't it… you don't know for sure you can," Isshin then became threatening. "No matter what decision he makes, Urahara, leave him well enough alone."

"No… I won't…" Urahara wasn't pleased with the fact that the other man was being so composed, and acting like it wasn't a big deal. "I can't simply use a mind modifier on that high of a level…"

"Yes, you will leave the boy alone," Yourichi suddenly spoke up, causing Urahara to give her a completely surprised look. It was rare for her to disagree with him, or for him to be taken off guard. "If it were Ichigo or the two girls, you wouldn't step in if they made that kind of decision."

"That's different. They're related to Isshin and Misaki by blood," the man protested.

"Toshiro may not be ours by blood, but he is still our child," the man in question protested.

"All right, all right…" the ex-taicho of the twelfth division finally gave in.

"By the way, why is my little one here and in such a troubling mood?" Isshin sighed, finally able to get what he wanted to talk about. "And why is his power cut more than normal?"

"Yourichi I think has more details about that," Urahara sighed.

"Oh, thanks Kisuke," the dark skinned woman rolled her eyes. "Aizen made his move to betray soul society along with Kaname and Ichimaru. They are now short three captains. He also has _that _device that Kisuke made."

"That… which was placed in Rukia?" Isshin frowned. "Shit… that still doesn't explain my Shiro-chan's position."

"Well, he and lieutenant Hinamori were injured pretty bad in the fighting, but Unohana healed them up. When he visited her, she said some very cruel things."

"When I was back in Soul Society, she sometimes said some things she didn't mean to him. She never did this to anyone else as far as I could tell," Isshin sighed.

"Ehh… well, in the letter Yamamoto wrote me, no one but Unohana overhead any of the conversation," Urahara piped up. "But they say that she basically disowned him, maybe even blamed him for Aizen…"

Before Isshin could impute something, Yourichi spoke up. "Afterwards, he went out to the Rukongai to release his frustrating, where Shiba Kukaku found him. They made the decision that they need not forget that he is a child still, ever again. And because of the fact he is having emotional problems, they placed a double inhibiter on him."

"I could have seriously told them that!" Isshin snapped, completely upset. "So… I now have a teenager on my hand, and three preteens instead of just two. And the preteen I am most worried about, he is one whom has self esteem issues all ready, and possibly feels like he was shafted."

Urahara, who had been imputing things here and there, suddenly had his eyes going wide. "Hitsugaya-Taicho has self esteem issues?"

"I did tell you that… didn't I… before?" came the sigh.

"Gomenasai… I may have added oil to the fire, rather than water like I hoped," Urahara stated quickly.

"Kisuke, what did you do?" Yourichi became irritable. "Or more of, what did you say to him?"

"Truthfully, I can't remember exactly what I said to him, but I remember that he felt that he was sent because everyone thought his losing it was childish… I do remember telling him that people actually forget he's still a kid."

"Aren't you supposed to be a genius!" the woman snapped.

"But, almost everyone does! And the kids smart… he would have known I wasn't being completely truthful to him… even more so then Ichigo…"

"He needed to hear it from someone," Isshin took another drink of his beer.

"Excuse me?" Yourichi was even more livid. "Are you saying Urahara is right about telling him what he did?"

"I don't think Kurosaki here is agreeing or disagreeing, Yourichi-san!" Urahara protested.

Tessai felt it an apt opportunity to speak up. "N one knows right now whether it was a truly good or bad idea to tell him this. But it was something he needed to know."

"The point of him being here, is so that he can finally get to be more of a kid, before his sanity breaks," the cat lady also let herself be dealt in by Urahara. "That kid was stubborn enough to go up against Aizen by himself… that was how he ended up as injured as he did. Does anyone have any ideas to get him to act like a kid."

"I'm more focused on Aizen. Ask the viazards… they know how to do both it seems," Urahara commented into his drink.

"Well… I do have an idea of what to do about it…" Isshin mumbled.

"What…" the pinstriped hat leaned over, and an ear was whispered into. The man's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you trying to insult his level of intelligence. And how stupid are you… he'll really hate and distrust you if you do that."

"Oh, and you have a better plan?" Isshin grumbled.

"Well… not really…"

**M**

When Isshin got home, the only light from the house was a soft glow coming from Ichigo's room, indicating that instead of the main light being on, his eldest was using the desk lamp. He unlocked the door, then relocked it.

His first stop was the girl's room, where both were asleep in their own beds. Yuzu's bed was covered in stuffed animals, too many for her to have done herself, which meant it was the task of Karin or Ichigo.

His next stop was Ichigo's room , where he found his son working away at his desk, while Hitsugaya was on the bed, a few books around him. He was all ready fast asleep, which explained why the older boy had the main light off.

"You know, you should be getting to bed soon too…" Isshin stated as he walked over to pull the blanket over the small boy, avoiding covering Kon, who was a bit beat up for some reason, and had managed to fall asleep next to Toshiro. He then removed the books, Macbeth, Hamlet and Julius Caesar, to put back on the shelf.

"I told Toshiro it was pretty amazing that he could read as fast as he can. It takes me a couple of days to read each one," Ichigo commented.

"I'll get one of the beds moved up here tomorrow," Isshin smiled.

"Yeah, thanks…"

"Be sure to go to bed soon…"

"I know…"

_

* * *

_

Author's note – Yeah… I accidently rewrote two of the paragraphs, one right after the other in the last chapter. Not quite sure how it happened, but it should be fixed by now.

_**Has the reason that you haven't updated lately due to school? **__Umm… sort of. There is the issue of school, then some family things, getting sick, my brother telling me that fanfic writing is a waste of time, along with watching Anime, while gaming is not… which I am also behind on! Long story short, my brother is also a fanfic writer, but I have to scribe for him because of his learning disability. He also jokes that I am an Anime Ottaku, and he's a gaming one. He was also frustrated because Kabal did something so that his high end gaming system can't play the game anymore, so he wanted me to play games he's recently gotten into with him. It is best… not to ask.  
__**Can Toshiro drink out of a juice box? **__Good question. I personally believe that he can. He is more likely to fall for something that doesn't seem logical to him, then something that does.  
__**Toshiro seems to be accepting Isshin too fast… isn't there going to be more conflicts? **__Yes, there actually is. The plan that Isshin actually tells Urahara is going to be one of the things planned.  
__**How is the real pronunciation of Julius Caesar? **__Many are familiar with the pronunciation of the name, as (jewel-e-us sea-sar). However, in the Roman alphabet, there was no j, and there was no k… only an s and a c; meaning that there was no sound for J, and c didn't have the s sound to it yet. Instead of the j sound, one would use the i sound, and the the c sound was a k sound. Thus the original pronunciation of his name was (ewel-e-us kai-sar)._


	10. Caring or Not

**Understanding  
**_**~Caring or Not~**_

When Hitsugaya awoke the next morning, he found himself covered in a blanket which he hadn't remembered covering himself with. He also felt overly warm and turned to see that the window hadn't been opened, which caused him to let out a groan.

He then proceeded to pull open the window, to let a cool breeze flow in. He then folded the blanket and proceeded to find the bathroom, as he hadn't gone since he was out yesterday and was in need to go. Thus, he got up and left the room.

The first door he opened was to Isshin-san's room. This was immediately obvious, as the decorum was similar coloring to how he had the captain's quarters back in soul society. In truth, Hitsugaya hadn't bothered to change the room.

"_That is so going to change when I get back…_"

"_To what… an empty room with maybe a futon. You're not a very materialistic person… unless it is a keepsake…_"

"_All those things… in that drawer… they are going too… anything that deals with him!"_

Of course, Isshin wasn't in his room when Hitsugaya looked in, which meant that the man was likely working, or sneaking around. Whatever it was, he didn't want to know. His mind was occupied with finding the restroom.

His luck had it, that the next room was also, not the bathroom. Instead, it was Karin and Yuzu's room. Just from looking, the room was divided in two, two different sides just like the twins were. He quietly closed the door.

He then hoped that the next door didn't lead to the closet, and was glad to find that it was the restroom. He went in, lifted the lid and proceeded to relieve himself. Of course, he should have known his luck wasn't that great.

The next thing he knew, the bathroom door opened and the bathroom sink turned on. The small taicho's face turned pale, then red from embarrassment. "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

**M**

Ichigo had been sleeping soundly as soon as he hit the sack. He dreamt that the ground was moving next to him. It was a little bit later that he woke up, sitting up to look at his surroundings. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he noticed the window open and his supposed charge missing. "Damit Toshiro!"

However, he suddenly heard the small taicho's voice coming from the direction of the bathroom, and he hurried over. On his way, he noticed that the girl's door was open, which meant one or both of them were up all ready.

He walked over to the bathroom, which happened to have the door cracked open. It was rather obvious what Toshiro had been trying to do, and why he had suddenly yelled the way he had. Karin, half asleep, was in there brushing her teeth.

"What do you mean, what am I doing?" she muttered, continuing to do what she had been. "Duh… that should be obvious."

"Ahh… Karin… I think he means why you barged in on him…" Ichigo stated, pulling his sister out of the bathroom before she fully became awake and realized what had happened. It was bad enough that Hitsugaya looked like he was going to be sick.

"So…" she muttered as he left her to the downstairs kitchen to finish. "Dad and you never have had…"

"Karin! We're family! Biological family! And there are certain things when you get older, now that you've gotten older, you simply can't do!"

Karin squinted her eyes, finally coming fully awake. "I got it! I got it! Sheesh… he shouldn't even be here in the first place!"

"You owe him an apology! Mom told you to knock first!" Ichigo snapped.

"I was half asleep at the time! I am not going to apologize!"

"You are too!" Ichigo snapped again.

Both of them heard a voice from the stairway. "Stop arguing. She doesn't have to apologize. I'll just lock the door from now on."

Toshiro's two teal eyes were hard and cold. He then went out the front door, slamming it as he went. Ichigo's mood also turned dark. "I'm now going to go and have to talk with him…"

"Ichi-nii… I am so sorry," Karin stated, grabbing a hold of his sleeve.

"Look… I'm not mad at you, but the person you need to apologize too, it isn't me…" Ichigo's eyes had a certain kind of sadness to them. He then went to the front door and outside.

He found himself relatively glad that the small taicho hadn't chosen to wander off, away from the house like he had the day before. He plopped himself down next to the boy. "That was a rather mature thing to do… though you should have to lock the door."

The look that Toshiro gave him was a dirty one, but the boy glanced away. "She's right though… she didn't mean too…"

"Does that change the fact that you were embarrassed?"

"Was not…" Toshiro muttered, continuing to look away so that his true feelings wouldn't' be seen. "Anyways… aren't siblings supposed to get along?"

"So… you can easily say that you and your sister always got along?" came the response.

The small taicho took a deep breath. "No… we didn't start arguing like that until after… we both had left home." He was trying not to let the older boy into the more personal matters he had always rather chosen not to speak with anyone.

If one thought about the arguments that they had before either of them went to the academy, or when it was just Hinamori going, it came to her making rather brash statements, like him going to the academy, or how great Aizen was.

His reactions on the other hand, had been in a way, very calculated. At times, he pretended not to care, like when she decided to leave Granny and him all alone, so the fact her actions hurt wouldn't become noticed.

The same went with the fact that the locals wanted nothing to do with him. If she had known, she would have been hurt due to the worrying about him. She might have even tried to do something about the whole mess, in an attempt to help, only to make the situation worse, and the pain to grow.

As for Aizen, that truthfully had been in a way, not caring on his part. He knew all too well, there was no such thing as a perfect person, yet Momo had doted on the man. He also had to admit, that he had in a way, been jealous, and that jealousy had of late grown. It felt like he had been forgotten by her.

He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. Ichigo had a concerned look on his face. "You seemed to be lost in thought, when I asked that."

"Sorry…" Toshiro muttered, then stood up, wiping his shoes across the cement, still not completely there.

"How exactly can you be sure that was when the major arguments started?" Ichigo stated, which caused the young taicho to turn and stare at him.

"How do I know? Because… our disagreements before had been simply that, disagreements. We never showed anger to each other. Momo might have scolded me. I simply ignored that the disagreements went on," Toshiro muttered.

Ichigo pondered for a few seconds, then took a gander. "If you know when the argument started, then you possibly know why they occurred?"

"The first time Hinamori lost it with me, was when I joined the academy," a weak smile spread across the boy's face. "I'd rather not talk about it…"

"When you are ready, and feel you need to, I'm open ears Toshiro. And I'd like to hear about the academy."

"Why…" Toshiro reached to open the door.

"Rukia mentioned that as a shingami, she took classes…"

**M**

Isshin had been in the clinic, taking care of some early morning appointments due to the fact that today was one of those that he was going to spend the day helping his kids get ready to go back to school. However, due to the arrival of someone, his plans had changed a bit, which would mean he would not be doing the usual embarrassing things he did, to the delight of Ichigo and Karin, and to the chagrin of another.

He finished up about ten-o'clock and went in through the door that led to the kitchen, the one and only entrance between the clinic and the house. He grabbed some clod toast from the counter and headed to what could be considered the living room.

Yuzu, Karin and Ichigo were busy going over and double-checking their list for school supplies at the coffee table, while Toshiro watched from the couch, a look of displacement on his face. Suddenly, Yuzu glanced up. "Toshiro-kun will need a backpack, bento box and other things too."

At this, the small taicho blinked. "I can get my own supplies."

"With what money?" Karin suddenly laughed. "Do you have any?"

"No, but I could hold off getting them until I do… which shouldn't be long," Toshiro commented.

"But you don't know how long that will take!" Yuzu protested. "And daddy said, we're family…"

"Yes… but…"

Isshin interrupted the small taicho, suddenly coming up from behind the couch, and leaning over from the left, a piece of toast still in his mouth. "Hey, Ichigo… could you handle taking the girls to go and get school supplies?"

The orange haired teen gave his father a skeptical look. "Sure… but what are you up too?"

"I have something to do with Shiro-kun," the man stated bluntly, which caused the young taicho to nearly jump out of his skin, his eyes wide, as he knew all too well Isshin's personality.

"What do you mean about that," Ichigo suddenly was dragging his father away.

Yuzu gave Toshiro a small smile. "Did you really sleep in your clothes last night?"

"Ehh… I don't see why that matters. I fell asleep without realizing it,"

"You haven't changed clothes yet Toshiro," Karin commented, giving him an odd lock.

"What… are you crazy dad?" Ichigo suddenly spluttered out from where he had been speaking with the old man. "He's _not _going to go for that…"

"Can you come up with some other argument son? Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Isshin gave the older boy a half smile.

"But…"

"No buts… trust me on this," Isshin chided. He then nodded his head to the doo, as Ichigo gave the small taicho a pitying look. "Come on Toshiro."

Very reluctantly the white haired boy got up and followed. Knowing to well the man's personality, it was best not to argue, it had always been that way. He slipped on his shoes and followed him through the door, keeping a slight distance from him as they walked.

"Mind telling me why you're here Toshiro?" Isshin asked after they had gotten a block away from the house.

"I don't want to talk about it," the small boy remained extremely distant.

"Then how about this question, how's Ran-chan doing?" Isshin tried again.

"If she finds out you're alive, she will personally kill and mutilate you."

"That is very nice to know," Isshin remained unphazed. "I asked how she was going."

"How do you think?"

"I think… Gin finally asked her to marry him, they have three beautiful daughters that Matsumoto teaches traditional dancing to while wearing chappy ears and blowing bubbles."

"Ahh…" at this, Hitsugaya couldn't help but stop and stare at his former taicho, accompanied with an extremely annoyed look. Only this man could start off with something completely normal sounding, and turn it upside down. "What kind of idiotic thinking is that?"

"The, I think I wasn't an actual answer from someone, instead of an avoiding of the whole subject," the man half sung.

"Gin really betrayed her taicho," came the small boy's response, a hurt tone in his voice.

"Urahara already told me about the shortage of captains, Toshiro," Isshin had a similar tone that was more controlled. "I still hope Gin will eventually turn on Aizen."

"As if!" Toshiro blurted out, venom in his voice. "He tried to kill me."

"What… did you just tell me Gin tried to kill you?" The shock was defiantly apparent from the ex-taicho.

"Yes…the only person that man has feelings for is Matsumoto, which scares me… because… because…"

"I think the words you're looking for is, you're worried Ran-chan might get more hurt or betrayed,"

"Yeah… those were the words," Toshiro muttered.

"I'm not quite ready to give up on him Toshiro, for my own reasons. Tosen either."

Bu this time, they were near a school, fenced in by the brick and chain link walls. The place that the students went for their physical education was empty, due to the fact it was summer break.

As they neared the entrance, and headed inside, Toshiro caught a glimpse of the sign, and stopped dead still. "Taicho… this is an elementary school…"

_Author's note –  
__**Why were some of the names blank? **__I have a thing that, since I can't spell names, I leave blanks for them… I thought I had fixed that and replaced them… but obviously hadn't. Hopefully… the grammar problems are taken care of too.  
__**Why is Isshin doing what he is doing?**__ Ah… for those of you who have figured out exactly what he is doing, the explanation of why is going to come next chapter. Also, keep in mind, Ichigo and Kisuke both disagree with the plan… for their own reasons.  
__**Is Ichigo in this version smarter than Ichigo in the canon version? **__I guess that canon Ichigo would seem that way. I've always seen him as pretty smart, perhaps not as much as Toshiro, or Uryu, but he did score in the top fifty of his school for the Japanese school system, which is a huge deal.  
_


	11. Testing Limits

**Understanding  
**_**~Testing Limits~**_

"Taicho… this is an elementary school…" Toshiro's voice was strained and cracking as realization of exactly where they were cropped into his mind.

"So?" Isshin's face completely bespoke that he didn't think it was that big of a deal.

"No… there is no way…" More realization dawned, as the white haired boy made a sudden attempt to dart away, only to find himself grabbed under the arms.

"Oh no you don't,"

"There is no way… you're going to make me…" Instinct told him to go limp, however, Isshin countered that with a good argument.

"You can act like a child about this, or an adult," came the half-hearted response. To his luck, Toshiro relaxed, and turned towards him.

"Why do you hate me and want to punish me! I didn't do anything wrong to you Isshin-san!" came the protest.

"Believe it or not, I am doing this for your own good, Shiro-kun," the doctor began to manipulate him towards the doorway.

As his shoes hit the sidewalk, Toshiro couldn't help but emphasize his distaste and distrust about what had just been said, "As if! My learning level is extremely high, so don't insult me!"

"Sure, your knowledge skills are that of a high school or college student, but unfortunately Toshiro, and I apologize upfront for saying this, especially if I hurt your feelings for doing so, but your social skills are that of a kindergartener,"

"I am able to work fine with the division members, or has twenty years addled that brain of yours too much," the chocking out of the words indicated that the boy was trying to keep calm about the whole situation.

"Don't you dare have a mental break down on me Hitsugaya, this really is not the place. If you have to absolutely lose it, wait until we get back to the house,"

"Lose it… you just told me I can't communicate with people!"

"Communicate and socialize are two different things for one thing. As for your communication skills, yeah, you are very good, except for the fact, when it comes to communicating your feelings, you don't."

"Feelings aren't important to a shingami," the boy uttered out.

"Shit… Toshiro… would you just try for me?"

"No… I hate you, so I don't have a reason too,"

"You do if… look, Toshiro… who are peers… as in your peer group?"

"Hinamori, Izuru, and Abarai… maybe even Hisagi. I communicate well with them, and I'm on civil terms… does this have to do with the fact that Hinamori and I aren't getting along?"

"Toshiro… your peer group, they didn't graduate the academy when you did. If I'm right, your finally at the age they actually start letting people into the academy,"

Toshiro blinked a couple of times, then a hurt look appeared in his tell eyes. "I can't… I really can't do this."

"Toshiro… you have to at least try," Isshin sighed.

"How! I've always been shunned by those equivalent to me age wise! Taicho… don't make me do this. I can't see why this is for my own good."

Isshin placed a hand on each of Toshiro's shoulders. "Tell me… what are you going to do when your division, my former division, starts accepting graduates from your peer group? You can't turn them away."

"You actually have a point…" two teal eyes fell to the ground. "I'll even admit I know understand why you're doing this. I should have figured it out sooner…"

"Don't you dare think you're stupid for not noticing, Shiro-kun… not everyone notices everything," Isshin half smiled. "Sometimes you think to hard about things is all. On the other hand, other times your mistakes are based off naivety and ignorance, and you can't learn certain things, unless you make mistakes.

Isshin opened the front door to get into the school, and led Toshiro towards the office. The small taicho saw the footlockers against the wall. Something struck him as funny. "Ne… taicho… how are you going to get me into school without any records. Even you aren't that stupid. Hell… that's something I'd expect you of all people to actually come up with."

Isshin smirked and held up a folder. "Last night was the usual drink night. Not only was I able to glean information, I was able to get this from Urahara!"

"I don't want to do this!" Toshiro suddenly sputtered out.

"_I told you he very likely wasn't trying to avoid you,_"

"Toshiro…" Isshin let out a sigh at the small boy. "I will drag you in here if I have too. If you are going to lose it, wait until we get back to the house, else you'll embarrass yourself, not to mention me… though I bet you'd love the last one."

"Hai…" came the muttered response. "_Why am I following his orders link this. He isn't my taicho anymore. He's outside the legal bounds. Hyorinmaru… why haven't you responded. Usually you come out and say something. Fine… don't._"

"Another piece of advice Toshiro. They are going to be giving you a placement test. I asked that you not be placed in a higher grade level then your peer group, and in Karin and Yuzu's class."

"Why are you telling me this?" came Hitsugaya's brazen reply.

"Because I know you oh so well child," Isshin's tone became dark. "As much as you'll dislike that test and want to put the wrong answers on purpose, I am warning you, you make it look like you're a first grader, they will not hesitate to stick you in that grade. In other words, I won't be able to help you if you decide to pull such a stunt. Now come on…"

This caused Toshiro to cross his arms and stare at the ground.. He followed Isshin into the office rather unmeekly, irritation written on his face. They both took a seat in the chairs in the front of the desk for the principle. A man came in and stood behind the desk.

"Well… the child that you brought in, Mr. Kurosaki, defiantly has foster system written all over him," the man stated firmly. "I don't see why they would let you take him in, and let your son bleach his hair. I won't tolerate this one doing so either. Any-punk attitude…"

As Toshiro sat in the chair, listening to this spill, he felt his body tense. However, before he could do so, Isshin suddenly yelled causing him to take his seat again. "Toshiro! Sit! Now! Don't you dare run off!"

As he sat down, he wrapped his legs around the front chair legs, and grabbed tight onto the chair. The man continued berating him. "The last thing we need is another punk assed kid, trying to pick fights with other students, and don't say that's what healthy boy's do."

"First off… it is normal for a few fights to occur. Second, my son was ganged up on most of the time,"

"Because he bleached his hair!"The man snapped

"You don't tell me Yuzu's gone and bleached her hair!"

"Yuzu-chan is a darling, just like her mother when she attended this school. The fact that your two other kids are little punks reflects on your personality,"

"_Why do I find myself agreeing with that statement?_

"_Shame Hitsugaya_," his zampaktuo admonished.

"_It's just, just think what this guy would say if he knew Isshin-san had a hand in my life_," the small taicho bemoaned.

"So, Ichigo, who has the same hair color as his mother and little sister, bleaches his hair?" Isshin found this irritable. "Where exactly is the principle?"

"He's in an important meeting," the man stated coldly.

"If it's such an important meeting, why isn't the vice principle there too?" Toshiro found himself blurting out suddenly and unexpectedly. This action caused him to suddenly stare at the foot of the desk.

"How did you know I was the vice principle?" the man snapped. When he received no answer, he spoke again. "When someone asks a question, you are supposed to answer."

"Enough, leave now," another man stepped into the room. The man then closed the door behind him. "How did you know that he was the vice principle?"

After a few seconds of Toshiro not responding, Isshin choose to speak up, handing the man the folder he had brought with him. "This is his file. He was raised by his grandmother and homeschooled with a girl he considers his sister. He's staying with us due to some problems with this sister."

"I see. Therefore, that's why there aren't any prior school records for him. His grandmother schooled him, so the need for testing is understandable… "

The principle was waiting for Toshiro to get up and move, however, he remained frozen to the chair. Isshin frowned, and stood up, going behind to try to pull the boy up, only to find Toshiro latched to the chair. "Come on Toshiro… it isn't such a bad thing, is it?"

**M**

After only a few minutes into the testing, the first section being math, Hitsugaya really felt like losing it. His mind felt like it was going through a meat cleaver, and not because of the fact, he didn't know the answers. That was how boring, not mention, easy, that the test was. It was a complete torture, and if Isshin hadn't brought up what he had earlier, he would have given into the temptation of putting really stupid answers to all the questions.

"_How are you doing?_"

"_With the test? I'm not even a few pages into it, and I want it to be over with._"

"_I meant about other things Hitsugaya_," the dragon hummed.

"_I am furious with him. I hate him so much, I somewhat wish he hadn't told me a logical reason for making me do this_!"

"_This is one of the few times I've actually seen your former taicho explain himself_,"

"_If I had been able to get in contact with soul society, they would have made arrangements so I wouldn't have to go through this…_"

"_And why's that_?"

"_Because arrangements for school would have already been made! I hate this!_"

"_Understandable_…"

"_I hate him_!"

"_Not understandable…_"

"_What do you mean by that?_"

"_Reading you, you still have the urge to call him Oto-san_"

"_Fucking shut up Hyorinmaru! That isn't true!_"

**M**

Isshin sat in the office while Toshiro took the test, and even though Toshiro's spiritual power was a lot less then what it normally would be, he could still feel the boy's emotions through the slight fluctuations. He could read the frustration pouring off, his many years as a shingami captain coming back to him. This was why he tried to teach his division members how to control their rietsu.

However, Toshiro had been one of the exceptions to the rule. No matter how much he had learned to control it, the fact was, his rietsu was raw and growing, due to his age. It still was that way, and Isshin could yet again pick up the negative feelings.

"_Are you sure that Ichigo wasn't right about testing Toshiro for the middle school or high school level?_"

"_They aren't his peers… and he doesn't need to be alone anymore…_"

"Umm… Mr. kurosaki… the person who grades the math test, wanted to know, do you really not want to stick him in a higher grade level then your two daughters… or even try to put him in a middle school…" a female teacher spoke up.

"No… Karin and Yuzu are his age. I have my reasons," Isshin gave a smile.

_Author's note – Some people actually think that Toshiro is equivalent to a fourteen to fifteen year old, simply because he is a midget. However, if one were to look at his height on a growth chart, his height is that of a six to eleven and a half year old, going for the youngest to highest of someone for that height range. Thus, if thirteen is pushing it on the charts, then those two ages defiantly are._


	12. Silently Screaming

**Understanding  
**_**~Silently Screaming~**_

To say the least about everything, Toshiro was eventually able to get through the testing situation, but his nerves were on end and frazzled. He played through his mind, the fact that he had been told not to lose it until they got home. His mind kept playing back the whole scenario, and his mind kept lighting on the fact, that… Isshin had yelled at him.

"_He never yelled at me before… I mean… he did yell at me when I did something stupid, and was in trouble… but what exactly did I do wrong that time?_"

"_Perhaps little one, you just so happen to not have done something to be yelled at this time?_"

"_But that would mean… if someone yells at someone and there isn't a reason for it, doesn't that mean that they hate them_."

The dragon sighed. "_Where did you get that idea from?_"

"_Well… Hinamori hates me now… she's probably hated me for some time…_"

"_You're a genius, but I really do think that your former taicho was right about dealing with your feelings… you're about to lose it…_"

"_I can keep it in… he said not to lose it until we got back to the house… I don't have a reason to be upset…_"

"_Then why are you…_" the dragon stated, just as they arrived at the front door, and they stepped in. Ichigo and the two girls were busy organizing the supplies into piles.

Karin glanced up from the table where she was working. "What took you guys so long… I mean… we got back before you did… and we kind of expected you back sooner. I mean, what took you so long?"

"Well… I took Toshiro in to be tested for your school," Isshin stated, taking a chance to glance back at Toshiro, and noted that the boy was shaking like a leaf. His eyes widened a bit, but he choose to ignore it, as he knew if he tried to calm the boy down, there would be a chance that he would completely lose it.

"How did it go…" Ichigo suddenly asked, glancing back, then standing up, to come over to Toshiro.

Suddenly, Toshiro growled under his breath. "I forgot that you knew about this!"

"Toshiro…" Isshin shook his head.

"I'm _not _an elementary school student! I can't believe that you both made me go through that! I hated taking that stupid test! I don't want to be in a class with them!" the boy stated, meaning the fact that he couldn't take the idea of being laughed at. However, he suddenly saw Karin glaring at him, her expression dark. And the look on Yuzu's face looked extremely hurt. The next thing he knew, he was darting away, and up the stairs, to the safety of his room… no, it wasn't his room, or the place he belonged, but Ichigo.

But having nowhere else to go, he shrunk down between the desk and the wall, his breath coming hard and fast, due to the fact that he knew he should have been more careful with his words. He could suddenly hear footsteps pounding on the stairway, and knew from the size, it had to be Karin and Yuzu. Karin slammed open the door to her brothers room.

"How dare you Toshiro! Yuzu's downstairs crying because you don't want to be in class with us! Hell, I don't see why dad had to have them stick us in the same class!" the girl yelled.

"_People are yelling at me again…_" Toshiro thought, as he heard more footsteps pounding on the stairs.

"Karin… seriously, leave him alone!" Ichigo snapped.

"He hurt Yuzu's feelings!" Karin stated.

"Yuzu's feelings were not meant to be hurt," Toshiro suddenly muttered. "Yuzu is not included in _them_."

"But I am… thanks a lot!" At this, the door was again, slamming shut. Toshiro still felt his breath coming out ragged, and he felt the older boy move across the floor, then sit down in front of him.

"Toshiro… if you don't let out and deal with all these bad feelings… they are never going to let you go back home…" Ichigo stated, however, received no response from the boy. Toshiro then felt a pillow lightly touching the back of his neck. "If you keep this up, you're going to make yourself sick… you'll throw up all over yourself."

The pillow fell to the floor, almost as if Ichigo had expected Toshiro to grab a hold of it. The next thing the small boy knew, a hand was touching him on the back. "_Hell! Stop touching me! I am not going to break down… simply because…_"

Ichigo though had other plans, and Toshiro felt the movement of the hand on his back, an almost comforting motion. "Toshiro… who was them?"

"No… bo…dy…" At this, the small taicho was surprised as a few sobs came out, and he glanced up, trying to shake his head so that he wouldn't cry like a baby, but tears were all ready rolling down his cheeks.

"Let me guess… they teased you about the way that you looked?" the older boy suddenly asked, removing his hand, a weak smile on his face.

Two teal eyes suddenly went wide, and a few sobs came out. He then suddenly found himself yelling. "That isn't true!"

"Toshiro… the way that your acting, it is… but I'm a little confused, because the shingami have a great deal of…" Ichigo watched as suddenly the boy burst into sobs, losing in completely. "…respect for you…"

"No they don't! They see me as a little kid who looks like a freak! They're just too polite to ever have said anything about it! And…" the boy suddenly buried his head into his arms again, the darkness welcoming. The sobs wouldn't stop.

"Well… I don't see you as a freak… I mean… look at my hair color…" Ichigo stated, glancing around.

"At least you never had anyone call you demon spawn, or say that the reason you died was because your village thought you were the reason that bad things were happening to them, and they left you to die!" Toshiro's head shot up, his eyes full of anger.

"Ehh?" Ichigo had an upset look at this revelation. He then smirked. "At least you never had some punk assed kid who told you to stop bleaching your hair and coping his hair style… and who was willing to beat you up to make the point…"

"A punk who…" Toshiro's sobs suddenly stopped, and his face contorted as he tried processing what the physically older boy had said. Suddenly, a chuckle was coming from him, and he shook his head. "There is actually someone that stupid?"

"Yeah, well, instead of thinking I'm a freak of nature, they think that I bleached my hair…" the boy smiled. "Truth is, that is one of the reasons I study as hard as I do, so the teachers don't hold it against me…"

"You really don't seem that bright… yet in some ways you are," Toshiro suddenly stated, wiping away the tears.

"So… I take it you grew up in the Rukongai?"

"I did…" Toshiro stated, understanding how the older boy had come to guess that. "I lived in first district with Hinamori-san and Granny… oh, and that giant you saw… him too… he was always nice to me… still is…"

"That guy? The big cry baby?" Ichigo stated.

Toshiro suddenly let out a laugh. "I think it is his naivety about prejudices, that made it so he accepted me easily…"

Ichigo watched as the boy's face became sad again. "Hey… did Hinamori know that the people around you picked on you?"

"No… they liked her too much to want to get on her bad side… and the few times she interfered for me, things just got worse, so I avoided telling her these things…" the boy started withdrawing again, but he was beginning to calm down.

"You know what I said about dealing with your feelings so you can go back… I was right about that, they won't really let you go until you do deal with your feelings that are going on in that head of yours." Ichigo suddenly stood up. "I'm going to go get some lunch for you… I'll be sure to clear up the misunderstanding with Yuzu… as for Karin… well…"

"Don't worry about it…" Toshiro stated. "It isn't as if I am going to be around long enough to form friendships of any kind. But I do get the idea that Yuzu's opinion of me is that I am already a part of the family."

"Yeah… she is that way. She also… never mind. I might be wrong in telling you about that," Ichigo left the room, leaving Toshiro to wonder what Ichigo had planned on telling him about Yuzu, but then shook his head. His nerves were still shot, and something was still bothering him, so he pulled into himself. He had a problem with the idea that something was still bothering him, but he had problems putting his finger on it.

He liked being alone, and he closed his eyes, letting his body finally realize and calm down. For some reason, letting his emotions go, made him feel better, but he couldn't get over the fact that it was still embarrassing. He heard the door open, and he heard the door click open. He heard some things clinking down onto Ichigo's desk, and he opened his eyes to see Yuzu standing there. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No… I thought Ichigo was bringing the lunch up," Toshiro glanced at the tray that she had sat down on the desk.

"Well, he was… but I pointed out I also needed to get you the books and school work list so you won't be behind when we start school after the break ends," Yuzu stated, grabbing one of the books and sitting down in front of him. "Karin has been acting weird ever since you got here. She is usually a lot nicer to people."

"Well, you would know better than me, wouldn't you?" Toshiro stated. "I am sorry for making you think…" He stopped, realizing that by saying, he didn't hate something, he would say that he liked it.

"I know you don't hate me… or like me either… your… what is that vocabulary word when one doesn't really care?"

"Ambiguous," came his reply. "I guess that would be it."

"Yeah… that is the word," Yuzu stated. "Karin is sulking in her room right now."

Toshiro however choose to remain silent about the matter, and Yuzu let out a sigh. She pointed to the books on the desk. "All the books for the reading list are here… so, you can go ahead and read it. The sooner you get started, the better off you will be once class starts. Karin tends to procrastinate… but because there are two of us, there has always been two sets of books. I know I possibly won't be seeing you at dinner, so, I wish you a good night," Yuzu stated, then left the room.

Toshiro though, got up and took the food from the trey and began to eat. He didn't want to look at the books, and the assignments, but knew that he eventually would. He glanced away, at the window, and wondered how long it would be. At least a week since he had come here would have to pass before he could back, and he had his doubts that they would let him come back that early on their calendars, for he would have just left. His life just kept getting more and more… he couldn't think of the word for it.

_Author's note – Understanding: A Self Journey is a side fanfic to this series that I just wrote. Technically, it takes place two days after Toshiro leaves Soul Society, so there is a bit of time off set…._


	13. Boredom

**Understanding  
**_**~Boredom~**_

After Toshiro had finished eating, he pushed the trey aside and picked up one of the books from the summer reading list that Yuzu had brought in with the food. He carefully cracked open the book, and let out a groan, noticing that the book used furigana along with the kanji. To say that this wasn't insulting to his intelligence would defiantly be a lie.

He glanced through every single one of the books, and could only shake his head, as he came to find that every single book had the reading aide in them, which was something he most defiantly didn't need. He had been able to read at this level before he had joined the academy, if not at a much higher . He knew that it would be a task to get through, simply from the fact that it was way below his reading level.

He then picked up the math list, and other assignment lists and felt like pounding his head on the desk. There was no way that he could easily put up with this, and his anger and his former taicho couldn't help but grow. That man should have known better then anyone, how much of a torture this would be. He let out a groan, then went and flopped down onto the bed.

He knew that he would have to make an attempt at reading this… drivle as he might call it, but he also knew that he would have to get through all of this mess. That was when Ichigo came through the door and sat down at the desk. He watched as Toshiro glared at the page, then flop it down above his head, a frustrated look on his face.

"Something the matter Toshiro?"

"Ehh…" the boy gave him one of those dirty looks of his.

"I had to take that stupid, stupid test…" the boy muttered. "Now I have to read and do all of this work."

"Shouldn't it be easy for you? It shouldn't take that long to do, right?" Ichigo stated.

"That is the problem… it is too easy. Are there any version of these books without furigana in them?" Toshiro groaned.

Ichigo blinked at this, then frowned. "This was why I told him it was a bad idea. I mean, I saw how you were reading Shakesphere last night, so there is no doubt about it that you are extremely intelligent."

"Are any of these books…" Toshiro closed his eyes, then opened them, glancing at the back. "Of any intellectual level?"

"You do know that it is all right to read drivle every so often?"

"If I wanted to read drivel… I would read the newspaper that we have back home. Some of the stories the other shingami write are… drivel…" Toshiro muttered. "If I wanted that, I would read again, Captain Kyoraku's _Rose Colored Path_. There is a reason that was unpopular… he put in all his womanizing ideas into a romance novel. He also got a laugh when I told him that was why it wasn't popular, and I haven't figured out why he said that, but Matsumoto and Nanao both agreed with me."

"And…" Ichigo shook his head in ammusment.

"And then there was Tosen… that traitor's _Path of Justice_… I mean, if I had even been thinking about it… there were some obvious clues about his personality hidden in there… I mean, I don't think anyone really read it, except for the recipies he put in there," Toshiro was of course on a major rant.

"Recepies? In a story?" the orange haired shingami shook his head. "That… isn't normal."

"He's … was… good at cooking, so all the female shingami wanted his recipies… unfortunately… when Rangiku wanted one cooked, she'd always ask me or Gin…" Toshiro closed his eyes. "Those traitors… they seeped deep into everyones lives…"

"How about we change the subject… I asked you earlier what the shingami academy is like," Ichigo sat an watched as the small boy turned to stare at him. "I didn't ask about the other thing, did I?"

"The academy… at the academy, we trained in the four aspects of being a shingami," Toshiro started. "It really isn't that big of a deal."

"Well, I don't know what those four aspects are," came the next comment.

"Duh, zanjutsu, kido, hoho, hakuda… " Toshiro muttered, glaring at the book again.

"You seem to like books…"

"Ahh… there is a huge library that is used by the students and the shingami… though the school has its own. It happens to have these huge windows, that one can watch the sunset coming through, and it was always quite. I could always… " both of the males were suddenly disterubed by the fact that they could sence the substitute shingami badge going off, blinking as it went.

"Uhh…" Ichigo held it up. "How exactly am I supposed to use this?"

"Touch it to your skin, but be sure to use him…" Toshiro stated, nodding his head at Kon, yet again becoming bored with the whole situation.

"So, are you going to come with me Toshiro," Ichigo stated, using the soul badge on Kon to pop out the pill of the irate stuffed animal mod-soul and then to pop it into his mouth.

"Look…" Toshiro gave him a weak look, but found himself interrupted.

"They said, if I needed help, that you could help me, right?" the older boy was trying to be helpful about the situation.

"Look… her is the thing…" Toshiro sat up and put the book aside. "They cut my power to one twenty-fifth of its normal amount… I am practically useless…"

"And that is supposed to mean…"

"Here is how the concept works… if you who are at captain level and can't handle it, how am I, someone who is less then by a twenty fifth be able to help you?"

"Isn't there a way for them to uncut your power?" Ichigo stated.

"Remember? WE came back in time!" Toshiro flopped back down, using the book as a nice tool to take a nap.

"Fine… I'll bring you back a nice suvineer!" Ichigo stated, popping out of the window.

"_You know he is just trying to be helpful_" the dragon hummed.

"Oh, I know he is…"

"Is what…" Kon was confused as to who Toshiro was actually trying to speak with, which caused Toshiro to let out another groan. He tried to take another look at the book, but then became frustrated again, and used it to cover his eyes, and he somehow managed to fall asleep. That was until he heard the door open, and sat up straight, grabbing the book as he did so.

He saw that Karin was standing in the doorway, glaring at Kon, who was picking his nose… no, Ichigo's nose. The small girl then uttered something. "Have you seen where my brother has gone?"

Toshiro narrowed his eyes, as if she had asked a very stupid question, then pointed at Kon in Ichigo's body. "He's right there, that is very easy, and very plain to see."

"Doesn't Ichi-nii… seem to be acting a bit strange to you?" Karin asked, while Toshiro tired to ignore her.

He let out a sigh. "Sure… he's acting pretty stupid, picking his nose like that… and I wouldn't expect _Ichigo _to do something like that… but then… teenagers like to do stupid things, right?"

"I guess…" Karin shook her head, suddenly irritated with the fact that Toshiro, just like everyone else passed it off as being normal.

"Hmm… " Toshiro watched as she stepped through the door, then went back to what he had been doing. "Oi… mod-soul… you are one of the stupidest things I have ever seen… other then the normal soul candy… they can be… even more… problematic at times."

"Oh, shut up…" Kon in Ichigo's body folded his arms, glaring at the boy, just in time for Karin to open the door again. Toshiro choose to ignore her, and leave the book on his face, only to have her step over and remove the book from his face to look him straight into the face. His two teal eyes blinked a couple of times.

"Why are you bothering me?"Toshiro muttered.

"Well, there would be the fact that you've had this book for two hours now and have only gotten through the first, what… couple of pages," Karin glared at him, completely unphazed by his cold demenior.

"What is the big deal with that?" Toshiro tried pulling the book away from her, but she yanked the book away.

"If you are having problems struggling with the reading, then why don't you just go and ask for help moron!" Karin snapped, holding the book above her head so that he couldn't reach it. Kon chuckled at her behavior.

"Help me… with what… don't insult me…" Toshiro's eyes narrowed. The next thing he knew, he had a fist flying straight at his face, the unexpectedness of the movement catching him off guard, so that he couldn't dodge it as it smashed into his nose. This caused his hands to suddenly fly to his nose as blood spurted out. "Aurgh!"

"Whose the moron now… Karin-chan has a temper," Kon laughed.

"Shut up Bostov!" Karin stated, turning to hurry off, only to crash into Isshin as he stepped into the room.

"Karin…" Isshin was not at all pleased, as the girl hurried out of the room. He noted the pale look on Kon's face, then walked over to where Toshiro was. "Can't you get along with each other for just five minutes? I mean, you two are in the same room together, and nearly every single time it's ended up with… negative effects."

"Mmmph!" two teal eyes glared at the man, and Isshin shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah… I got it, you can't respond with a bloody nose," Isshin went and quickly grabbed the small taicho around the waist. "We'll get you cleaned up and fixed…"

"Put-me-down," Toshiro uncovered his nose.

"Toshiro! Cover your nose so you don't drip blood everywhere… you've seen Karin's bad side. You don't want to see Yuzu's. Sure, she can't punch, but she's got an equally evil temper… and hers comes with words to boot," Isshin chided as he hurried down the stairs and through the kitchen, into the clinic. The young taicho couldn't help but catch that Yuzu and Karin were both looking at him, and be carried like he was, was a complete embaressment.

The man set him down in a chair in one of the rooms, and then went and dug out some cloth or paper, and began making some nose plugs to stick into the boys nose. The man was again shaking his head at the boy, and carefully tipped his head backward, and carefully inserted the wads in. "You're going to need to keep your head like that until the bleeding stops…"

"You're being completely unfair…" came the sudden muttering from Toshiro.

"Excuse me, but I am being completely fair in telling you that you'll need to keep…" Isshin glared.

"Not that… about the fact that every time I am in a room with… her, it has ended up badily," the small boy sighed.

"Name a time that it didn't," Isshin stated, narrowing his eyes.

"That would be this morning while you were in the clinic, and they were working on their school supply list. However, truth be told, neither one of us spoke to each other," the small boy stated.

"But every time the two of you do speak with each other, it ends up badily. You've ended up with pancake in your face, her yelling at you, even getting a bloody nose… Toshiro…"

"She assumed I needed help with reading of all things," Toshiro muttered. "And I asked her not to insult me…"

Isshin narrowed his eyes, and his mood became a bit dark. "Swallow your pride child."

"Excuse me!" This statement from his former taicho, caused the young boys head to shoot up.

Isshin though used his hand to tip his chin back into the position it needed to be in. "Don't, excuse me. I am telling you, swallow your pride. This wouldn't have happened if you had done so."

"You mean to _let _her help me read when I can very well do it on my own!" Toshiro sqeeked the words out, taken completely off guard.

"No, I mean, don't take things like this as an insult to you. The proper thing to have said would have been to have said, no thank you, not to make her bad for trying to be nice to you," Isshin let out a sigh. "At least she attempted to be friends with you."

"You, of all people know what happened the last time, and the only time I made a friend…" Toshiro muttered, closing his eyes. "It isn't worth it."

"You know what…" Isshin threw his hands into the air. "I give up. I've never seen you act this self centered before."

"If you're worried about me apologizing to her, when she and I have both calmed down, don't worry about it, because I will make an attempt to apologize to her about not just this, but what I said earlier that she took offence with. "

"Toshiro, that isn't the point!" Isshin's voice suddenly began to rise.

"Don't yell at me!" Toshiro's head shot back up, and his eyes were suddenly wide. "I didn't do anything wrong! It was just some stupid misunderstanding! Same as at the school when you yelled, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You were trying to bolt to the door!" Isshin groaned, putting his face into his hands. "I really don't know what to do with you. I thought you had more common sence!"

"So I messed up! That still wasn't a reason to yell at me! I don't even know how I messed up before! I know that I made Karin mad, and I said I will apologize, I just don't understand why I upset her!"

"You upset her because you were thinking about your own hurt feeling s and… hold on a second, have you been mad this whole time because I yelled at you earlier?" Isshin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"That, and you drug me into… this whole mess. But I guess , yeah, what I am most upset about is getting yelled at," Toshiro closed his eyes, just in time to have Isshin tip his head back again.

"I am sorry that I yelled at you. However, you had me greatly worried," Isshin stated.

"I don't get how being worried makes someone yell at another. I also don't get why Karin got mad like she did…" the small boy muttered.

"You know what, let me know when that dense head of your lets in some reality Toshiro," Isshin sighed. "I'll be out in the livingroom if you actually want help with something."

Toshiro sat in the room, as the lights were dimmed and the man stepped out of the room. His eyes, which had been looking straight at the ceiling, suddenly darted to the door. "_He's really mad at me. Was I really being self centered?_"

"_Well, you forgot that being insulted by what people say, works both ways. No, you didn't mean to hurt Karin-chan's feelings, but you also didn't stop and think about the fact that she really was trying to help you._"

"_It didn't sound like it. I thought she was trying to make fun of me… I mean, she went and said that I was a moron…_"

"_For not asking for help if you needed it. I wonder if I have to agree with her, if that is one of the ways you lack…_

"_Hyrinmaru…_" the boy tilted his head forward, but felt a little dizzy as he had snapped it forward to quickly. "_I can't tell if you are trying to tease me, or are also disappointed in my… maybe even mad._

"_Well… a lot of what you are being told has been true, but you've been to stubborn to listen to them. You should see how your taicho is doing…_"

At this, the small taicho stood up, and went from the clinic, and into the main house, glad that the door inbetween wasn't locked. He peeked in and saw that Yuzu was busy cleaning, and she turned to give him a sweet smile. But she seemed to be bothered about something. Toshiro almost went to go back into the room, but Yuzu suddenly spoke up. "I'm yet again sorry that Karin… kind of went over board."

"She wasn't intirely at fault though," Toshiro sighed, stepping into the room. He walked into the living room, and saw Karin sulking behind the couch. When she saw him, she stuck her tounge out at him, and he knew that it wasn't a good time to try to apologize, even though he really wasn't sure what he was apologizing for.

Isshin, who had been sitting on the couch, turned to him and smiled. "Hey, Shiro-chan, you want to watch the television with us?"

The small, white haired boy bulked, as he hadn't expected his old taicho to be treating him civily, and had expected him to give him the cold shoulder. "Ahh… no, I would rather not…"

"_Even though she is not in a good mood, you should try apologizing to her. Believe me when I say it would be a step in the right direction, Hitsugaya…_" the dragon stated.

"_Why are you interfering… you usually don't do this…_"

"_Because… you might avoid her every time she becomes mad at you, and you'll never applogize, as she might be in a bad mood until you do apologize…_"

Toshiro let out a sigh and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he turned towards Karin, and opened his mouth. "K… k… k…"

"My name is Karin… it is easy to say, Kar…in," the girl stated, glaring at him.

"_Now isn't the time, Hyrinmaru_," Toshiro turned away dijectidly, and then headed up stairs.


	14. Missing It?

**Understanding  
**_**~Missing It~**_

When Isshin left Toshiro, he ended up going out, and giving Yuzu a weak smile as he went to the living room. Karin was in there, sitting on the couch, watching television. However, when she saw her father, she knew he wasn't at all displeased, and moved behind the couch so that he wouldn't possibly be able to see her.

The ex-taicho already had one child sulking that he was unable to talk out of, so he decided to let Karin be for a bit, and went and turned the television to the news. He also had to wonder if he was too hard on Toshiro, as he had in fact told the boy that he was being selfish. "_That boy… it isn't in his body to usually be selfish… is that what he was doing._"

"_Knowing the child, it was more likely a defense mechanism to what Karin was saying. You are going to need to work two ways, making it so that he learns better defense mechanisms that are more along the lines of not being on the offensive, while with Karin… you're going to need to make her understand that she really needs to be carefully what she says to that boy, especially if she wants to be friends with him._

"_Shiro-chan has already said, he doesn't want to make friends_," Isshin had hurt when the child had come out and said that he didn't find having friends as something that was worth trying for.

"_Think about the fact that he hates being hurt… that is what the real issue is. He's become scared of forming new bonds, simply because old ones got broken… you and I included…_" the zampaktuo sighed.

"_That is true…_" Isshin sat on the couch, realizing that while he had lost his calm at times with Toshiro a long time ago, he would have to try to avoid it, as the matter needed to be handled with delicacy. He heard the door click open on the clinic, then heard Yuzu and almost smiled at the fact that Toshiro was admitting that it wasn't entirely Karin's fault. As the boy approached, he turned towards him. "Hey, Shiro-chan, you want to watch the television with us?"

Isshin could only watch, as the small boy rather jumped, his face showing shock from the fact that Isshin had even taken the time to speak with him. "_Has the distance between us grown this much?_"

The small taicho shrugged his shoulder, and then glanced away, as if he wasn't quite ready to speak to people yet again, as if he was still digesting the words that had been told to him. "Ahh… no, I would rather not…"

Isshin gave a small smirk and was ready and willing to let the boy be on this, even though it had been a really long time since he had spent quality time with him. The boy's small face then contorted, and he had to raise his eyebrows, as Toshiro was up to something in particular, but he couldn't figure out what it was, until the boy glanced at where Karin was likely sitting behind the couch. "K… k… k…"

"My name is Karin… it is easy to say, Kar…in," Isshin heard his darker haired twin daughter speak up from behind the couch, and saw the suddenly startled, not to mention hurt look on the male pre-teen's face. Every time he turned around, the young ones were saying hurtful things to each other, and he couldn't help but admit, Karin had not only done the most of it, but she had also had more control to the whole thing.

"Karin, come here and sit," Isshin stated as soon as he knew Toshiro had disappeared up the stairs and was out of earshot. "I need to talk to you."

"Let me guess, I am going to get a lecture and a punishment for what I did to him?" the girl asked, suddenly coming around to sit by him, sulking as she did so.

"Well, of course, you bloodied his nose," Isshin stated. "Did you really have to lose your temper that bad? I've told you not to get into fights with guys at school, don't you think that constitutes the same thing."

"I know that I haven't been very nice to him, but I did try and be nice to him then, and… it felt like he slugged me in the stomach, with what he said," Karin glanced at her shoes and began to kick her feet out.

"So, that made it a good idea to hurt him?" he suddenly asked.

"No… it didn't," Karin sighed. "I know I shouldn't have done that… and I guess if someone who… is struggling with reading, would not want to have it rubbed in…"

"Maybe he was just frustrated with the fact he has less time then you to catch up with the work," Isshin stated. "You should have given him a bigger chance to ask for help, if he really needed it…"

"I guess so… I don't believe that I jumped to conclusions," Karin sighed.

"I think your brother would be a better person to help Toshiro, at this time, with things like that," Isshin stated. "So, what would be a good punishment for you? Grounding until school starts up?"

"I promised the guys that I would go and play soccer with them tomorrow! And the next day…" Karin had a really hurt look on her face. Isshin suddenly though had a brainstorm. Karin got one of those worried looks whenever he had that funny look on his face. "What idiotic thing are you planning…"

"Would you like to possibly get out of grounding until school starts," Isshin was hopeful that she would go along with his plan.

"Yeah… but what exactly do I have to do…" Karin narrowed her eyes.

"Tomorrow, you have to come and find me before you go off to play with your friends, and I will tell you what you have to do…" Isshin stated.

"But…"

"No buts about it Karin," Isshin had high hopes that his plan would actually work.

"Fine… since I am grounded, I'll be in my room…" Karin stated, storming off herself. Isshin let out a smile, knowing suddenly that there might be chance his plan might fail.

**M**

Toshiro leaned up against the wall, wondering where, all this time, the substitute soul reaper had gotten too. His nose still hurt from the blow that Karin had landed on him. Kon was still giggling with delight at the boy's predicament. If it weren't for the fact that he was in someone else's body, he would have done something very painful or very humiliating to the mod soul.

It was just about when he was about to lose his cool, that Ichigo jumped up to the window, only to crash into Toshiro hard as he came through, not expecting the boy to be right there when he came through. The small boy let out a gack, and Kurosaki quickly pushed himself away and into his body, quickly popping the mod sol back into the lion shaped stuffed animal.

It was then that he glanced up, and got a good look at Toshiro's face. "What the hell happened to you?"

"It's called Karin lost her temper with him!" Kon chuckled.

"Shut up…" the small boy grumbled. He nearly flinched as Ichigo launched at him, however, he didn't expect the boy to pull out the two plugs in his nose. "Oww!"

"You really shouldn't have left them in for more than a few minutes, and if your nose was still bleeding, you should have put in new ones…" Ichigo berated the small boy. "What exactly did you do to make her mad?"

"I said the wrong thing…" Toshiro stated. "I really don't want to go into it…"

"The kiddo wasn't reading his book, and it had been awhile, and since he'd only gotten a few pages into it, she assumed that he couldn't read," Kon laughed again. "_Don't insult me…_"

"Is he always this annoying…" Toshiro muttered, beginning to go into a deep, deep sulking mood.

"Yes… he is very self-centered," Ichigo watched as the small boy flinched at those words. "Toshiro… what all happened."

"Nothing that really matters," Toshiro stated, his voice tight.

"Yeah, well… I believe we have to share a room," Ichigo muttered.

"You didn't have to get the bright idea for me to bring me home to stay." The small boy was still unable to look at him.

"I didn't say you had to stay here," Ichigo muttered, turning away. "If you don't want help…"

"Wait…" Toshiro had yet again flinched at the words. "Don't think that I really have a choice in where I was to stay. You're the one who dragged me off that… weird contraption of his, and made me come and stay with him. You're the one who also told me yesterday, I wasn't to run off to stay at Urahara's. You didn't give me a choice and you did in fact say I had to stay here, though not in those words."

"Sorry…" Ichigo muttered, turning to his schoolwork.

"I wasn't finished," Toshiro suddenly swung his legs over the bed's edge. It was Ichigo's turn to give him a dirty look, but that quickly softened when he saw the boy glancing at the floor, and he knew something was wrong. "I don't know… how to ask for help. I also don't know how to word what I need help with. I mean, I don't quite understand it myself."

"I know you don't want to hear that, but it will take time," Ichigo sighed.

"And what am I supposed to do… I can't really do my job as a shingami," the boy muttered.

"Then do your other current job, as an Elementary School Student and do your school work," Ichigo muttered. Suddenly he had the pillow from his bed thrown at his head, and he stopped short, and turned towards the small taicho. "Please tell me you didn't just do that…"

"And what exactly are you going to do about that?" the small boy stated, bulking as the substitute shingami suddenly flew at him. "What are you…"

However, his question was answered as Ichigo began to tickle him, trying to find the child's ticklish spot. Toshiro bit his tongue and began to struggle a bit, only to fight back the giggle that was fighting to come out. "Oh come on Toshiro, you know you want to laugh!

"No, I won't do something so…" However, the white haired boy quickly found out that Ichigo had too much experience with this, from his younger sibling, and the small taicho was soon giggling aloud. On top of the embarrassment of having something so childish happen to him, and for him to not be able to do something about it, was bad. However, he could also hear his voice changing octaves every so often, which was also embarrassing.

Finally, Ichigo pulled away. "Was that so bad? Maybe you were embarrassed about being so childish, but I bet you liked it."

Toshiro however, rolled over so that he wouldn't have to look at the other boy, the laughter that had welled up having problems dying down. He then fell silent, choosing not to respond. Ichigo then let out a sigh. "Didn't I tell you, certain things stay in this room?"

"Yeah… it kinda did fill good," Toshiro suddenly stated. His head shot up suddenly as the door opened, and Yuzu came in with a bag. He ended up sitting up so he could see what she was doing.

"Ahh… when we were out we got some things for you," Yuzu stated, handing her brother the bag. "I wasn't quite sure what size you were… Ichi-nii said to estimate a little bit big."

At this, the boy gave Ichigo a look asking for an explanation as Yuzu left the room. "Do you really want to remain in the same clothes and start stinking?"

"You have a point…" Toshiro muttered, not at all happy about the whole situation.

"Don't worry… I didn't let Yuzu get you anything really little kiddy and cute, and I also was able to talk…" Ichigo was suddenly letting out a chuckle.

"All right… what the hell is so funny," his eyebrow twitched.

"Karin wanted to get you Kamen Rider…" Ichigo continued to chuckle, trying hard to control his laughter.

"Kamen… what…" the boy shook his head.

"A very popular show here in the real world… kinda corny, meant for…" Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

"Let me guess… little kids?" Toshiro grumbled as the bigger boy tossed him the bay.

"Yeah… though you have to give her points for trying to pick something that is _in _for your age group," the other boy stated.

"I really, don't find this funny…" the small boy closed his eyes. "I have to wonder if I even want to know what… those in my future class are going to be into…"

Ichigo was about to say something, but Toshiro had already gotten up to go and change in the bathroom. He went and switched of the main light, so that if Toshiro wanted, he could go straight to sleep. He didn't really notice the boy come back, that was until he heard the sound of the window opening.

This caused Ichigo's head to shoot up. "Ehh… Toshiro… why did you have to open the window… you aren't going to go out on the roof are you?"

"It's hot… to hot…" the boy muttered, covering his eyes with his arm.

"Yeah… Yuzu doesn't always turn on the air-conditioning, except for in the clinic.

_Author's note – Well, there is two chapters at one go. Things are starting to become… normal again.  
__**Toshiro's Age: **__Yup… there are actual people who thinks he's that old, equivalent to a fifteen year old. On person told me that they used his eyes to tell how old he was, but in Anime, the eyes don't reflect ones physical age. Some kiddos like to make him that old so that there isn't a problem with pairing him with an OC Ichigo's age, or pairing him with Hinamori, things like that.  
__**Elementary School Uniforms: **__Well… it is mostly Middle Schools and High Schools that it is definite that the uniforms will get worn. Elementary school, not so much… except for P.E. uniforms._


	15. Back Fire

**Understanding  
**_**~Back Fire~**_

As every shingami knows, their mood also effects what happens in their inner world. For Ichigo for example, this included his inner world raining whenever he became upset about anything. No one tends to be privy to the inner workings of one's inner world, unless one has a special bond with that person. While one didn't always go there in their sleep, sometimes they in fact did.

Truth of the matter was the fact that Hitsugaya Toshiro, when he became agitated, the way it affected his world was a tad bit different. For him, he went into his world when he was trying to rest, almost as if, every single time, the dragon was trying to get him to relax in the only way that he knew how. For the weather inside his inner world to change, something else had to happen, which was slightly different to other shingami, but still related to his mood.

To get his inner world to change, the outside weather had to change, and usually it only happened when his state of mind was in some form of unconscious state, and that could be a dream type state, or having been hit by a blow that put him into that kind of state. The whole matter was, when the outside world began to heat up, his inner world began to change. This especially happened whenever the weather made him sickly.

What happened was that the ice would begin to thaw, and not like a nice, summer thaw, but kind of weather that was uncomfortable. As Toshiro was in his inner world, he could see steam rising, and knew that something was wrong, yet his dragon, his zampaktuo was near him, attempting to satiate the worries that the boy had.

"The weather is changing?" he asked of the dragon.

"Well, that should be easy to guess," came the humming reply. "So, you shouldn't really worry about the whole matter at hand."

"Not worry, you must most defiantly be kidding. I can't stand warm weather," the small boy sighed, moving closer to the ice dragon, not to mention the fact that he was now in a rather grumpy mood. As he sat there, trying to indulge in the dragon's coldness, he overheard someone calling his name… his first name.

"_Toshiro!_"

At this, the small taicho winced, and shook his head in dismay, at the fact that he ended up wanting to remain in his inner world. Not to mention, most people he knew in soul society knew not to call him by his first name, and this one… was male, so it wasn't likely any of the likely three female candidates that he might immediately think of. "Who the hell is that?"

"Don't you remember? The substitute soul reaper?" Hyorinmaru laughed. "I think that you should be waking up now.

"Great… I don't want to wake up yet," the boy stated, his heavy eyelids being forced open, and as he did, an orange haired person came into view. Two teal eyes glared at him.

"Toshiro… you're not supposed to sleep on the roof. I told you that when you first got here. The last thing we need is for the neighbors calling the police on you. And believe me… we have a neighbor that has a few times over the years, not because she wants to get dad in trouble, but she things that we blew ourselves up," the teenager sighed.

"I can perfectly well see why your neighbors would think that," the smaller boy sighed, and began to dust himself off. "I don't remember when I came to be sleeping outside your window."

"Outside my window?" Ichigo shook his head at this. "You might want to get a hold of your bearings. Not to mention, what were you going to do if you were sleeping when a Hollow would come by?"

"I wouldn't be squished when the roof fell in…" Toshiro stated. "I see I'm near the peak of the roof…"

"Let's get down before Yuzu freaks out," Ichigo stated. "And don't make such morbid jokes…"

This caused two teal eyes to blink a couple of times, not to mention there was a slight confusion. "How did you know I was actually joking? Most people don't..."

A finger suddenly poked him in the forehead. "Because even I am not stupid enough to believe that was why you came up here. You don't feel comfortable."

At this, the small white haired taicho shoved his hand away. "Please don't poke me like that… in fact, please don't touch me… I don't like being touched…"

"What…" Ichigo though found himself interrupted as both could hear something coming from Ichigo's window.

"Ichigo! Uhh… where are my boys!" came Isshin's sudden remark from downstairs.

"Watching the sunset and having some bonding time, so don't bother coming up here, or I'll make sure Yuzu hears about it," Ichigo stated firmly, with a rather grumpy face, his usual scowl deepening. Toshiro had to roll his eyes at the whole idea of bonding with the substitute soul reaper, but he knew it would get his former taicho of their back. They could both here the man hurrying off to go and cry to the poster. "Seriously… he likes to sneak attack me…"

"Have you ever thought about waking up early and replacing yourself with a bunch of bricks surrounded by pillows and a blanket," Toshiro had a funny sheen to his eyes.

"Not funny Toshiro…" Ichigo gave the smaller boy a dirty look.

"I didn't mean that one as a joke. I was serious," the boy narrowed his eyes, as he watched the boy go and climb through the window then followed him.

"Oh… I know you did. Remind me not to take you anywhere where we can find supplies for your crazy idea," the older boy began to pull clothes out so that he could change for the day.

"My idea isn't crazy. I've actually managed to pull it off before. Multiple times," the boy stated as he swung his legs from the bed to the floor.

"What exactly did you mean by that?" Ichigo's eyes were wide, and slightly disturbed.

Toshiro's eyes suddenly went wide, as he suddenly realized that he had almost given away something that he shouldn't have… about him trying that stunt on Isshin-san, so it would have been no problem. "My… former taicho…"

"Well that makes sense… you're a taicho now, so you wouldn't do such things," the older boy sighed with relief. "Man… if you didn't have that rank holding you back, you'd be a worse terror than Karin…"

"Worse than her… I never went punching people in the… I never walked in on… oh never mind!" the small taicho suddenly hurried out of the room, the door suddenly thumping shut.

"Crap… all I did was make a comment, and he took it completely the wrong way," Ichigo sighed. "I hope he didn't wake up Karin with the fact that… I hope I can keep those two apart…"

**M**

Isshin was sitting down stairs, drinking a cup of coffee, which he preferred to tea, when he saw Toshiro come down stairs, completely changed into a new set of clothes, one that Yuzu had bought him the day before. She had already taken to having a new brother in the house, which in itself was something warming. Of course, Yuzu was someone that anyone with any shred of a heart would fall in love with.

He watched the boy carefully, and noted that his hair was slightly askew, and that his eyes were only half way open. He watched as the small taicho took out a coffee mug, than put a few ice cubes into it, and poured coffee over the ice, getting it to cool down. He then poured in what looked to be double the amount of creamer and sugar that Isshin remembered him ever using.

"Ehh… Toshiro… I don't let Yuzu and Karin drink coffee…" Isshin's mouth twitched, as he watched the boy take a drink.

This caused two teal eyes to suddenly open up wide, and stare at him. "Oh… I forgot about you. You're annoying…"

"Toshiro…" Isshin growled at the boy. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Relax… I didn't forget that you were my taicho, but once I get back to Soul Society, I plan on scrubbing my mind of all my memories of you," the boy stated firmly. "All photos, stupid trinkets, gone…"

"You've turned into a major brat…" came the man's reply. "Something hurts you, you push it away, even if that hurt wasn't intentional. Can't you just simply forgive me, especially since it was out of my control?"

"I hate you…" came the muttered reply.

"Toshiro! You keep saying that!" Isshin stated, almost yelling. "Yet you don't say it as if you mean it, which makes it hurt even more that you're lying to yourself and me about this!"

This caused the two eyes to snap up. "I wasn't lying!"

At that, the small taicho hopped off the stool and went out the front door, taking his cup of coffee with him, muttering things under his breath about how crazy Kurosaki's family was. Isshin pinched his brow, trying not to lose it with the boy, but Hinamori had really set him into a bad mood. He was suddenly surprised to hear Yuzu's voice coming to him. "What did you think that Toshiro-nii-chan was lying about?"

Yes… Yuzu had definitely, full heartedly accepted Toshiro into the family. Isshin had to wince though, when he thought of how Toshiro might react to Yuzu calling him nii-chan like that, considering they were of similar age. Of course, it might or might not prove to be good. As for what he thought Toshiro was lying about, his eyes fell on the coffee pot. "Ehh… Shiro-chan was mad that I didn't believe him that he was allowed to drink coffee…"

"Well… you'll have to make an exception for that one rule of not drinking coffee until you're older for him, huh?" Yuzu smiled, making her father smile at her positive outlook on the world.

"I guess I will, though Karin won't like it…" Isshin sighed.

"Karin doesn't like a lot of things," Yuzu frowned. "But I think that she does like Shiro-nii..."

"Your sister still in bed?" Isshin suddenly asked, curious where the other twin was.

"Karin got mad because you were yelling, and said that because you interrupted her sleep, to save some breakfast for her, because you broke her pattern… again…" Yuzu sighed. "I told her that she'll want to play soccer early today, as it is already warm out. The weather says we'll have a heat wave."

"I see…" Isshin glanced at the door, wondering if this might have had anything to do with why the boy was as offbeat as he was… but then one never really could tell with that boy. With Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu, he could read their moods easily, but with Toshiro,… it had always been hard, because the boy choose to make it hard.

Yuzu began to cook the food for the morning, and began to set it on platters so that everyone could go ahead and serve themselves. Isshin watched as Karin and Ichigo came down the stairs, and both began to eat. Karin glanced up. "Ne… where's Toshiro?"

"He's been outside for a bit now…" Isshin stated firmly. "Let's talk about what I want you to do so you can get out of being grounded."

Ichigo was watching his father carefully as he chewed his food, knowing that the old man was definitely up to something. Karin glanced at him irritably. "What is it that you want me to do?"

"Ask Toshiro to go and play soccer with you and your friends," Isshin stated as he buttered his toast.

"Should I go and tell Toshiro that it is time to eat?" Yuzu asked, concerned that the boy hadn't come in.

"He wasn't in a good mood… let him come in when he is ready too," their father stated, biting into his toast.

"Hold on…" Karin suddenly stopped eating. "You want me to invite mister anti-social to come and play soccer with us?"

"Of course I do," Isshin stated. "This way he'll know more kids then just you and Yuzu for when he starts school. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but…" Karin stirred her eggs with her fork.

"Karin… could you do this?" her brother piped up. "I don't usually think dad's ideas are that great, but this one is actually a very good one. He needs to hang out with some people around his age."

Isshin raised his eyebrows at this statement from his son, as that was the whole reason he had decided to force his former lieutenant to go to an elementary school, and not a high school. However, he choose not to make a comment. Karin though was still irritable. "And what if he says no?"

"Then just go play. The point is, you are to make an effort to be friends with him, and treat him as a guest, instead of finding every opportunity to make his life miserable," Isshin sighed, getting up and taking his plate with him. "I need to be getting to work. I am going to trust you Karin, that you will go and ask him."

**M**

Toshiro had been sitting outside the whole time, trying to find a way to cool his body down. The inside of the house and the outside were beginning to heat up. He had also waken up later than he had planned, due to the fact that the heat had been adjusting the way that it had. He watched the cars on the street pass by, and tried to drink the coffee that he had prepared himself, but his body simply didn't feel like it.

The door creeped open behind him, and suddenly someone stepped out next to him. He heard Karin then, as she sat down next to him and put a gym bag down next to him. "Yuzu has had breakfast prepared for some time now."

"I am not really hungry though… so I would rather not even both going in and possibly insulting her. She is rather good at what she does…" Toshiro stated, wanting the weather to cool down.

"I am supposed to ask if you'll go play soccer with my friends and me," Karin stated, deciding to get to the direct point of why she had stopped to speak with him before she headed out.

"Let me guess… you're father's idea?" Toshiro narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, but I would rather not…"

"You aren't trying to get me to keep being grounded by not going are you? Because he said all I had to do was ask you," Karin muttered. "So what you are trying to do won't work at all.

"I am not trying to get you stuck in the house. What is the point of me going when I obviously know that you wouldn't want me there, and if you don't want me there, don't you think your friends would pick up on that?" the white haired taicho refused to look her in the eyes.

"Hey… that isn't fare of you to say that!" Karin's voice strained, slightly hurt by what he had said.

"You know it is true… you would rather I wasn't here… which, for your information, if I had anywhere else to go, I wouldn't have come here in the first place," His voice was rather dry, so he took a drink of the now cold coffee, but before he did, he glanced up at her face, and saw that he had possibly hurt her feelings. "Look… Karin-san…"

"Karin-chan or just Karin, Toshiro…" the girl stated irritably. "Dad actually let you drink coffee! That so is not fare!"

Toshiro almost opened his mouth to say something about him being a little kid, however Hyorinmaru in a way bit his tongue by telling him that wouldn't be a good thing to say, so he went back to what he had been trying to say before. "What I was trying to say was that, even if you wanted me to go today… I really don't feel in the mood. But…"

However, he didn't get a chance to finish as Karin had stormed off on him.

_

* * *

_

Author's note –

_**Does Kyoraku have a book? **__Yeah, he actually does have a romance novel. I am not sure if it is actually like the perverted books from Naruto. What I do know is it ran in the Seireitei Communication, but was not at all popular. That's how some novels over in Japan are published… via such publications like that.  
__**What is furigana?**__ Oops… I meant to add that one in the author's notes. Basically, it is kind of like phonics for the English language, a form of pronunciation key, for words that the kanji is not rather known. So, that should give you guys an idea why Toshiro was so upset. I could be wrong about the Elementary school books using furigana, however, when I tried researching the reading curriculum, I so got squat!  
__**Does Toshiro really have problems with self-esteem? **__A lot of his pride issues possibly stem from self-esteem issues. He was a kid who just so happened to have almost everyone ignore him before he entered the academy, and was treated with a great deal of respect. He has also, a small fear of being persecuted and treated differently, in ways he doesn't deserve. I believe somewhere, Matsumoto calls it a persecution complex, but I could be wrong. His height, age… coloring, are all issues with him.  
__**Couldn't Toshiro still fight a hollow? **__Yeah, he could… but if it were a hollow that Ichigo, who is at captain's level with no restraints placed on his power, couldn't beat, Toshiro would not be able to help, as he is far below Ichigo's strength level due to the restraint. He was also given the order not to but in, unless he had to. They were rather tricky with how they put things with him.  
__**Doesn't Toshiro seem very Toshiro-ish? **__Well, we are for the most part, used to seeing Toshiro's unemotional self. Yet when Toshiro was around his grandmother, he was actually a very warm hearted and sweet child, but that got shut out around almost everyone else. He also has had the luck of just having gone through a mental break down, finding out his taicho is alive, being forced to go to Elementary school… _


	16. Overheat

**Understanding  
**_**~Overheat~**_

For once, when Karin got to the soccer field, to practice with her friends, things started off on the bad foot. As soon as the four boys saw her, they knew that she was in fact, in a bad mood. She dropped her soccer ball onto the ground, and looked at them, only to have them stare at her. She blew air out of her nose, hard. "Aren't you guys going to practice too?"

"Well…" the one with glasses mumbled.

"Karin… you don't look to be in a good mood," another said, fidgeting.

"And when you aren't in a good mood, you play too rough," a third brought up.

"You guys do realize that you are saying this about a girl," Karin muttered, irritated that they were acting like wimps.

Suddenly, the last one spoke up, making a mistake. "So… what is the matter?"

"That stupid jerk!" Karin suddenly kicked at the soccer ball, and it went flying at the net. Instead of going in, it hit the pole, and bounced back. She continued to kick at the ball, taking her anger out, and her friends stepping back, letting her regain her cool. "I did what Oto-san said, and… that jerk!"

"Ichi-nii-san?" one of the boys piped up, causing her to suddenly turn and glare at him. "Gomenasai!'

"No…" Karin suddenly took a deep breath, and counted to ten, letting herself calm down. "I am the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have been losing my temper like that. Let's go ahead and play… there isn't going to be much time before it gets too hot to play…"

**M**

Ichigo finished up with some of this homework for the summer, then headed out of the room, and then outside to get some fresh air. As he stepped through the door, he was startled to see Toshiro just sitting there, leaning against the wall. The coffee that he had tried to drink, was toppled over, and spilled onto the ground.

The substitute soul reaper wiped away the sweat from his forehead, then went down onto two knees and shook Toshiro's shoulder, causing the young taicho to look up at him, his teal eyes slightly glazed over. "Ehh…"

"You are heat sick, aren't you," Ichigo sighed, pulling the small boy up from the ground. The cup fell to the ground, and the orange haired teen helped the small boy into the house. He made the white haired youth sit on the couch. "Oi! Yuzu! I need you in here!"

"Hai!" came the over cheerful response, as the small girl popped in the room, carrying a very familiar stuffed animal under her arm. "What is going on?"

"Toshiro is getting heat sick… one of the first things to do… could you go and turn on the air conditioning?" the older boy stated, as Toshiro's eyes watched their movement, but he was otherwise complacent, and unresponsive.

Yuzu's hand brushed against his forehead, and a frown appeared on her face. "Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well, Toshiro-nii-chan?"

She then hurried off, not noticing the startled expression on Toshiro's face at the title she had just bestowed upon him. Ichigo carefully reached with his two fingers to feel Toshiro's pulse. His skin was slightly cold, and sweaty. "Lie down…"

"No…" the small boy stated, his tone becoming irritable. However, Ichigo shoved the small boy, forcing him to lie down. He quickly loosened the top buttons on the boy's shirt, only to have Toshiro slap his hand away. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you don't get really sick on us," the teenager muttered, just as Yuzu came hurrying back, with a bowl of water and an a cloth.

"I turned on the air conditioning!" the girl smiled, setting the supplied down. The girl suddenly dipped the cloth into the water, and then rang it out, and touched it to the boy's skin, causing him to jump.

"Knock it off Toshiro… you'll be fine…" Ichigo muttered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Yuzu finished what she was doing, and then folded the cloth up, and placed it on Toshiro's forehead. "Rest up and you'll get better!"

She then hurried off, and Toshiro closed his eyes, until Ichigo nudged him, when Yuzu had come back, with something to drink. "Sit up for a bit, and drink something."

Yuzu handed him the drink as he sat up, and when it hit his lips, he found his body suddenly gulping down the water. This caused the teenager to pull on the glass. "Slow down Toshiro, or else…"

Suddenly, Toshiro found his body lurching, as the liquids that he had taken in, didn't stay down, and instead ended up on the floor. He looked at the floor, and blinked a couple of times, then glanced up at the female Kurosaki. He had a guilty look on his face, and his already flushed face, turned a little redder. "I'm sorry, Yuzu-chan…"

"No, don't be. I'll clean it up!" At that, she hurried away, going to get supplies to clean up.

Ichigo held the glass of water for the small boy. "Try to make it so that you don't drink it too fast…"

At that, Hitsugaya began to slip slowly, letting the cold liquid fill his stomach a little at a time. He wanted more, but the older boy pulled it away. This caused the boy to close his teal eyes. "Sorry about this… I have never done well with hot weather."

"You know… you could have told me earlier…" came the sigh.

"I don't like people worrying about me," the small boy stated, then opened one eye, and knew that Ichigo would have a comment about this, as he scowled at his charge.

"When you do this, you make people worry worse, have you ever thought about that? Or do you really think that you can take care of yourself, all on your own?" the boy muttered, then pushed him back down. "Get some rest. I'll check on you every so often, and get you to drink something."

"Not yet…" Toshiro stated, sitting back up, causing Ichigo to slap him on the back of the head with irritation. At this point, Yuzu came hurrying back. He made a slight bow. "Thank you for both taking care of me."

Ichigo had one eyebrow rise up, as the boy lay down, and then he joked as two teal eyes closed. "How am I supposed to know if you are actually thankful, or that you happen to be working on your stubborn self, and doing things on your terms, and this just lets you."

Hitsugaya choose to ignore what could be taken as a snarky comment, as he happened to hear the chuckling tone in the physically older male's voice.

**M**

Karin finally gave in, when the sun indicated that, it was around eleven o'clock. She knew that it wouldn't be long before the day got to the hottest part of the day. She said goodbye to her friends, and then headed back home, the weather making her a tad grumpy. This made her mind, when she thought about what would await her at home, not in a good state of mind.

When she got home, she saw the cup on the ground, the coffee staining the cement, and she shook her head, picking it up and heading in the house. "Hey, Ichi-nii! Could you tell Toshiro that if he wants to drink coffee, he should drink it all, and not spill it on the ground… or leave it outside."

However, she suddenly had Yuzu popping up in front of her, taking the cup, and holding a finger to her lips. "You need to be quite!"

Karin shook her head, not at all sure, what was going on, and walked further into the house, seeing that her brother was sitting at the kitchen table, working on his homework, having brought it down stairs. "Hey, Ichi-nii… I thought you hated working on your school work downstairs…"

"I do… because dad makes it a non studious place. But, I have a reason for being in here," Ichigo sighed, tapping his pencil.

"So where is Toshiro?" Karin asked.

"So you can bother him? I don't need that right now," her brother muttered, focusing on his work.

"Oh, fine…" Karin stated, going to the couch, and sitting down, only to hear a yelp as she did so. She shot up and turned to the person who was lying there. A finger reached up, and pulled the cloth away so that a teal eye could peer out. "Toshiro?"

"I got it… you didn't know I was here. I don't care…" the boy muttered, letting the cloth fall back down, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

"Still, I am sorry," she stated, shaking her head. She then narrowed her eyes, remembering that he had been making comments about being careful of the heat, yet here he was, having gotten over heated. Her hand went and snatched the cloth away, startling him, and causing him to stare right at her.

"Karin, what the hell are you doing?" Ichigo hurried over, and grabbed the cloth, and put it back on the small boy's forehead.

However, Karin had a very angry look on her face, and she took her finger, and poked it into Toshiro's chest, good and hard. "Baka, baka, baka! If you were getting to hot earlier, you should have told me before I left! You stupid, stupid idiot!"

With that, she turned and stormed away, her feet stomping on the ground, and her door slamming upstairs. The substitute soul reaper shook his head, and turned to Toshiro. "You know… this time I have to side with her on this one…"

"You aren't the only one," Toshiro muttered. "At least she didn't punch my face again…"

The door that led to the clinic, suddenly clicked open, and Isshin stepped into the room. "Uhh… I noticed the temperature… Toshiro and Karin aren't still out in the heat, are they?"

"While your idea to get them to become friends was possibly a good one, Toshiro didn't go with Karin. He sat outside, and got overheated," Ichigo muttered. "Are you done in the clinic today?"

"I can take him, and have him stay in there so you can get back to your room. I just was concerned because I got a look at the temperature outside… kids shouldn't be playing soccer like that,"

"No…" Ichigo stated, grabbing his books, and heading up the stairs.

Isshin glared at the small taicho. "I figured you to be smarter than this."

"Go ahead, call me stupid just like she did… I don't care," the white haired boy muttered.

"Come on, you're going to go and rest in the clinic, while I take care of patients," Isshin stated.

"No…" the small boy stated, only to find himself scooped by his ex-taicho, and thrown over his shoulder.

"Ahh, well, I've got to get back to work, so I can't have you just sitting here, by yourself," Isshin muttered, carrying the boy into his clinic, where a few patients raised eyebrows. "This is a young man who Ichigo brought home because he needed a place to stay, until his family matters settle down. He got heat sick, so I am going to go and put him in one of the rooms so that I can keep an eye on him, I'll be right with you!"

At that, Toshiro felt himself being lowered to one of the beds, and Isshin turning on a fan in the room. The small boy turned his head away from the man, but let the cold air blowing on him, in a way calm his body down. Isshin gave him a weak smile. "I'll be back about every fifteen minutes to check on you."

There was however, not response to this.

_Author's note – Has been nearly a month since I updated this one…  
_


	17. Raining Down

**Understanding  
**_**~Raining Down~**_

All of the Kurosaki family was glad that Toshiro's temperature from getting over heated had in fact gone down; however, there was the fact that his body temperature remained elevated. Ichigo didn't think to take into consideration that the small boy's ice zampaktuo likely meant that his temperature was rather low under normal circumstances, but Isshin did.

Hitsugaya was made to stay in the clinic all day, which frustrated him to say the least, as it was just like having to stay in the fourth division, which he practically hated. That meant there was something wrong with him, and even if it was for just a short period of time, he hated having one more defect added to him, and he hated not being able to do his paperwork.

However, the room Isshin-san Taicho had placed him in, was nice and cool, letting his temperature steady a little bit, and letting Hyorinmaru give him a small lecture, not one of his big ones. It was more along the lines that he shouldn't go worrying the dragon so needlessly. In fact, that was what got him sent to the living world in the first place.

He couldn't deny the dragon's logic in that, and realized, he in fact did need to rely on others, even though his stubborn side told him, he needed to rely on his own abilities, to prove that he was in fact a captain, like they wanted him to be. And that was argued back with, with the fact he really never wanted to become a captain. Oh, the irony.

Yuzu made him a rather light lunch of cucumber sandwiches, as they were supposed to be good for when one got hot like that. He hadn't really heard from Karin… she seemed to have disappeared from view. Ichigo and Isshin seemed to hover over him, even though his former taicho had told his son, that he should be upstairs, doing his homework.

Finally, Toshiro said that he would go upstairs and rest in Ichigo's room, to solve the whole problem, and got up on his own two feet, walked out of the clinic and up the stairs, and collapsed onto the bed. Isshin of course, just had to show up, to make sure he made it there. This irritated the boy, because he really didn't like the idea of being coddled like this.

He went and dozed off for a few seconds every so often, only to be shaken away by Ichigo, to make sure that he was all right. He stared at the ceiling too, as his head hurt too much to do any reading. He was rather bitter about many things, but he knew very well, that he couldn't do anything about that. He also felt empty, and useless.

"You shouldn't be so down on yourself," Ichigo's voice came to him, as the older boy got up, and rotated the wet cloth on the small boy's forehead.

"Could you butt out Kurosaki?" the small boy muttered, irritated that a complete stranger was taking care of him while he was sick. Th en again, if he had stayed downstairs, it would have been Isshin who would have been taking care of him, and he wasn't a stranger. No, the man definitely wasn't a stranger.

He thought back to all the times he had been sick, before he had become a captain, and remembered that it was in fact Isshin who took care of him, almost never the fourth division. After that, it had always been Matsumoto… or even Gin who had taken care of him when he had gotten too sick to do things on his own. Too many times, to think about, especially those few times, Gin had to step in for Rangiku.

"Then stop looking so depressed," the substitute soul reaper's comment dug deep.

"I _really _want to go home," came his response.

"The sooner…"

"Stop with telling me that! It seems so far off!" the boy stated slowly.

"Then make some sort of goal to reach, reach it, then head onto the next one," Ichigo sighed.

"A goal…" Toshiro blinked a couple of times at this, confusion spreading through his mind. Why would he want to have a goal that he really didn't want to achieve.

"_Try getting along with your former taicho_," his dragon commented into the boy's head, causing Hitsugaya to turn over onto his side, and look out the window.

"_I don't want to have anything to do with him… but…_" Two teal eyes closed, trying to get back to sleep.

"_You really have no choice, do you…_" the dragon sighed. Soft footsteps were heard on the floor, beating a rhythm towards Toshiro.

"Karin," Ichigo's voice spoke up. "Leave Toshiro alone… he's supposed to be resting."

"He also needs to get the school work done before Monday," the girl sighed. Toshiro felt her touch his shoulder and shake it. "Hey, Toshiro… where are you in the first assigned reading?"

"It doesn't matter…" the small boy sighed, not believing that she was trying to bother him about something like that.

"It does to matter!" Karin stated. "I can read out loud while you rest."

"No…"

"Toshiro…"

"It's Hitsugaya…" the boy muttered. "And I have a headache… maybe later, all right…"

The next thing he knew, Karin was storming out of the room, and the door slammed, causing him to jump and wince. At that, he heard Ichigo get up out of his seat, and walk over. He felt the wet cloth being repositioned so that it covered his eyes again, and he felt a blanket being pulled over his body. "I know that you didn't mean to hurt her feelings, but she is going to be stubborn."

"So next time, just let her do as she pleases," was his quick response.

"Hmm… not necessarily. You were right about it not being a good idea for her to read out loud to you while you aren't feeling well, there is a chance even you wouldn't be able to retain it, or… you'll fall asleep half way through, and have nightmares," the clicking of a mechanical pencil .

"What is that supposed to mean?" came the curious reply.

"Because," Ichigo laughed. "You're part way through a story, and your mind wants to finish it, so you end up dreaming that you are finishing it, yet you end up in the story, and your life experiences started effecting the dream."

"That's rather interesting…" Toshiro stated. "If it weren't for having a headache, that might be… an… interesting experience to say the least. I'm going to get some sleep now…"

"Uh-huh," Ichigo continued to work on his schoolwork.

**M**

Ichigo had worked on his schoolwork for some time. He hadn't realized, that he two had fallen asleep, until he heard a soft pitter-patter of rain on the window, which woke him up. He glanced up at the window that was open, and his two brown eyes went wide from shock. Not only was the window open while it was raining, getting the sheets and bed soaked, Toshiro wasn't there.

His first reaction was to spring forward, and go and peak out the window, hanging out so that he could get a good look on the roof, to see if Hitsugaya was there. Not seeing the child taicho, he pulled him back into the room, partially wet, and slammed the window shut, locking it without realizing what he had done. He quickly removed his shirt, and put a dry one on it, and went looking for the boy.

He looked in various rooms, and in the clinic, but the white haired youth was nowhere to be seen, which he found frustrating. He headed back upstairs, to find his substitute badge, and ended up running into his father, peeking his head out of the door. "Something the matter Ichigo?"

"I can't find Toshiro. The window was open again… like it was the last couple of days I woke up. I think he's outside," the boy muttered.

"As in…" Isshin was going to wait for the answer, except he and his son both heard a tapping sound coming from his window. He opened his door wide, in time for Ichigo to see that Toshiro had somehow ended up outside of his father's window, instead of his own. Before the substitute soul reaper could make a move, Isshin had the window open, and was dragging the small boy in.

"Now what… young man… do you think you were doing?" the former taicho chided his former subordinate. Two teal eyes glanced up, partially glazed over. The small body was also shaking vividly from his temperature dropping drastically more than it should. The man closed the window so no more rain could get in.

"_He is making himself sick again_," came Isshin's zampaktuo, though Ichigo couldn't hear the voice.

"_I know he is… he always did this… he was likely on the roof again._"

"This… isn't…" the two eyes glanced around, rather confused at that moment.

"Isn't what Toshiro?" Ichigo scratched his head, letting out a sigh of frustration.

"Isn't your room baka!" the boy sputtered out, his confusion growing rapidly.

"It's my dad… his room is opposite from mine," the boy stated.

"Ichigo, draw up a hot bath, why don't you?" Isshin stated, holding the small taicho by the arms. "You're up to your old habits, of sleeping above my room on the roof, aren't you…"

"Gomenasai…" Toshiro's eyes darted away. "I didn't even realize I had gone up onto the roof… I really hadn't…"

"My fault for not trying to break you of the habit when you were younger," the old man shook his head. "Do you think you'll be able to get out of your clothes on your own?"

At this, the small shingami captain glanced at his arms, which were shaking violently, and he tried to grasp onto his clothing, only to find that his fingers were too numb to do anything. "Can't…"

"I was afraid of that… apologies for doing this to you, Shiro-chan," Isshin sighed, hoisting the child over his shoulder. "But I have no choice, lest you want to get really sick…"

At this, Toshiro let out a deep breath of frustration, but knew better then to protest, as there was nothing to actually protest. If he had been under Unohana's care, he would have been right well, told off, about doing anything that would make him worse. That was the worst thing that one could do, was to tell her off about what was medically right.

Isshin hauled the small boy into the bathroom, where Ichigo was filling the tub with hot water, but not so hot, that it was scalding. He sat Hitsugaya onto the toilet, and began to pull off the preteen's clothing. His two teal eyes kept wanting to close, but every so often, the old man would pat his face to keep him awake.

After stripping him completely, he lifted the boy up, and placed him into the tub, so that his limbs would hang out slightly. He could hear Ichigo muttering from the doorway. "Seriously… you've had bad luck all day, Toshiro."

"Could you go to my bedroom, and lay out one of the guest futons, then come back and watch him? I am going to go downstairs and heat some warm broth. He' be fine for a few minutes, but finish as quickly as possible," came the orders of a former taicho.

- Author's note – Yup… Toshiro is having a bad day with the Kurosaki's, he is.

_Author's note – Has been nearly a month since I updated this one…  
_


	18. Mediocre

**Understanding  
**_**~Mediocre~**_

The bedroom that the two girls shared was rather quiet, except for the tinking of the rain upon the window glass. The air-conditioning could also be heard, but even that was minute sound wise, as the rhythmic beat simply was lulling in its attributes.

Both girls were startled awake when they heard two people hurrying about outside their doo. Yuzu sat up to look at Karin, her eyes wide. The darker haired of the girl's waved her hand a bit. "Go back to sleep. I'll check it out. If there is a reason to, I'll wake you up. All right?"

"All right…"

Karin then carefully crept out of her room, in turn to see her brother and father both heading away from the bathroom, for some reason or another. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she crept into the bathroom, which was steamy from the hot water that had been used.

The next thing she noticed, was that soaking wet clothes were littering the flood. The clothes belonged to a male, as that was who the underwear was meant for. The size of the clothing indicated it also belonged to someone her age.

Her eyes darted over to the tub, to see Toshiro sprawled in there, completely naked, and his hair sopping wet. Instinctively, she knew her normal reaction would have been to start yelling at him for being stupid, but instinct also told her that something was also definitely wrong.

She carefully crept over to the tub and placed a hand against his cheek, and felt the iciness of his clammy skin, not to mention that it was damp with cold water, instead of warm. "Toshiro… seriously, what the hell did you do to yourself, baka?"

There was absolutely no response from the other preteen, which caused her to worry. She went and grabbed one of the cups left on the sink, for using to rinse ones mouth, even though they brushed teeth down in the kitchen now. She then scooped some of the warm water, and poured it over his head.

She at first had no response, and her eyes traveled to his right shoulder. There was a long scar, running from his shoulder blade to his navel. She had noticed it, when she had come in, but hadn't for some reason paid any attention to it, as her mind had been fuzzy with sleep. However, she had to suddenly wonder, how someone her age, could get such a vicious scar.

As she looked at the scar, her fingers suddenly reached out to touch it, and run the length of it for a few inches, only to cause him to let out a small shudder. She moved her hand, so it wouldn't be near anymore, however, he grabbed onto it tightly, and quickly, or that was the way it was in her opinion.

**M**

Humiliation was haven't to have all of one's clothes stripped off one's body, left completely naked for two other's to see. The only consolation was he was too cold to do it himself, and he needed to get warmed up fast. Not even the person with the strongest ice zampaktuo, could live with a frozen body.

Isshin then gently lifted him up, and set him into the warm tub, as the water attempted to thaw his cold, frigid body. He didn't understand why Isshin didn't put his arms and legs in the tub, but hung them over the edge. However, he trusted the man to know what he was doing.

He also suddenly found both of the males disappearing on him. It was likely for some important reason, however, he really didn't want to know, and just began to relax, though painfully, letting all the adrenaline in his body to get to the window to seep out, causing a defiant fatigue and exhaustion to set in.

"_You are so lucky, you didn't collapse and fall off the roof_," Hitsugaya refused to comment on the dragon's words, as he knew he was indeed lucky.

His mind didn't follow anything really either, as he was mentally, and physically out of it. He heard the door open, and heard footsteps. His normal self, would have had the reaction to have been startled, turn and spin on the person, not to mention, start yelling, for the size of the footsteps were none of the '_i_' in the house.

Which meant that it was one of the two girls who also lived in the house. Yuzu was in fact, too polite to come in without knocking. That meant it most definitely had to be Karin. That girl, seemed to love, putting him into awkward, embarrassing situations. He hadn't recalled this many in such a short period of time.

His body was next to non-responsive, and he found himself unable to move. He couldn't even move his head, or redirect his eyes back at Karin. It was like his comment earlier, that he had with Ichigo. In no way was he able to, if attacked, be able to defend himself against a hollow. So much for the roof caving in comment…

He felt her suddenly place her small hand against his cheek, to his could skin, the warm touch in some ways feeling good. However, it didn't override the fact he was extremely uncomfortable with her being in the bathroom. "_What the hell does she think she's doing_?"

"_I think she's actually worried about you. She happened to walk in right now, and see your clothes tossed her and there, and you completely out of it._"

"_Why the hell should she care? She punched me the other day. She hates me._"

"Toshiro, what the hell did you do to yourself baka?" came from her mouth. He then heard her move away.

"_Good… she's going away_," his mind thought, only to suddenly hear a cup digging into the water, and being poured onto his head. "_Why is she trying to pick on me?_"

"_I don't think she's trying to bully you_ the dragon laughed, causing him to inwardly roll his eyes. However, he could tell that the dragon was right about her trying to help him, as she kept slowly pouring water over his head. That didn't mean that he had to at all like the situation one bit.

However, with as lethargic as his body was, he really couldn't do anything about stopping her. He almost felt as if his body rather wanted to fall asleep, as something else told him falling asleep was a bad idea. Especially since there was no telling when or what she would do, which was frustrating.

He felt the water stop pouring down over his ears, and wondered what she was up to now. There was a short pause, and he felt her fingers lightly touch where he had been cut by Aizen technically only a few days ago, yet also in the future. Unohana taicho had mended it, but not taken away the scaring.

As she began to trace the line on his body, he felt shivers run down his spine. He also had a memory flash of that particular wound being made, and the blood spurting out. When he came to, he found himself latched onto her hand tightly, his entire body tensed, and somehow his head now turned towards her.

He found himself suddenly looking her straight in the eyes, his body reacting negatively, as his heart began to beat fast. The door clicked open, and Ichigo stepped in, grabbing his sister, and shoving her out of the bathroom. "Seriously, Karin… leave him well enough alone!"

Toshiro suddenly found his mouth being forced open, and a thermometer being placed under this tongue. While it was in his mouth, the older boy supported him by placing a hand on his back and his chest. Even though Hitsugaya's body was beginning to warm up, the shivering became worse, or so he though.

"Good grief… Karin's been horrible," Ichigo stated, not realizing that Hitsugaya could have, if he had been more responsive, have told him that this wasn't completely true. However, if he had been more responsive, the situation wouldn't have been the same.

As Ichigo removed the thermometer from Toshiro's mouth, Isshin popped in. "What was Karin doing?"

"Bothering Toshiro again," the substitute shingami laughed. "Seriously, it is getting old.

"I'll think of something that should hopefully elevate the problems, and get them to be friends." At that, Toshiro saw Isshin sit down on the edge of the tub, in front of him, and take the thermometer. "Just a few more minutes I should hope…"

"What if he gets worse?" came the orange heads reply.

"We take him to the hospital," Isshin gave a weak smile.

"_I'm right in front… hold it… hospital! Isshin-san, are you crazy! How much trouble would I be in if that happened!_" the small boy's eyes grew wide, but all he could do was wait for the ex-taicho to remove him from the tub.

The man began to pat him down dry, while he still shivered slightly, and Toshiro glanced up at the mirror, only to suddenly look away, not at all happy with what he had seen. He then felt himself wrapped in towels and carried into Isshin's room, where the man dressed him in clean underwear, and a clean set of clothing.

He was sat down onto a futon, and Isshin suddenly held a slightly steamy bowl up to his lips, and Toshiro went and took a sip. The warm broth trickled down into his stomach, and he sipped away, until Isshin pulled it away from him. "That is enough for now. Ichigo and I will be taking turns watching you, so do get some rest."

Soon, he was drifting up, his body adjusting to the warmth of the futon's blankets.

**M**

Ichigo and his father took turns keeping an eye on Toshiro during the night, while the boy slept. The Kurosaki teenager couldn't figure out how a kid could have so much bad luck, yet here was Toshiro, having a great deal of bad luck, over the course of everything. The boy wasn't even trying to cause problems for himself, it just happened to find him.

He fell asleep, around three in the morning, and expected to be woken up by his father to switch, however, he was woken up by the sunlight streaming in through the window, and he startled awake. He went to go and check on Toshiro, but found that the white haired boy wasn't in the futon, and had yet again disappeared.

This caused the substitute soul reaper to stand up, and glance around, trying to find him, only to have his father speak up. "Seriously… Ichigo… he's right here…"

He glanced over to his father's bed, and saw the old man sitting there, with the child curled up asleep in his lap. "When did you move him?"

"I didn't move him…" Isshin sighed, holding onto Toshiro protectively. "He just suddenly got up and came to me, simple as that, which told me he was starting to be better. Though, he should really take it easy the next couple of days so he doesn't get sick."

Ichigo went over and shook the small boy's shoulder. "Come on Toshiro… time to wake up. Let's go get something to eat, all right?"

"Let him sleep in," Isshin stated, taking the youth and setting him down on the bed. "I am going to go and work in the clinic. When he wakes, tell me, so I can come talk to him."

"About what?"

"Nothing much really…" the old man smiled.

"Nothing much… bull," Ichigo shook his head.

_Author's note – I know someone wanted Toshiro to be way out of it, but the way it worked out, he was so far out of it, he couldn't even talk._


	19. Atsuo San

**Understanding  
**_**~Atsuo-san~**_

Everything the next morning was in its own way, rather quiet. Ichigo waited patiently for the young taicho to wake up from his slumber. He lay on the eldest Kurosaki's bed, sleeping his head away, small snores coming from him. To say the least, the orange haired youth knew that they had just been plain lucky with everything that was going on.

That also made him wonder, when would the good luck, begin to run out, for keeping the bad luck that seemed to keep coming, from spilling over, and actually causing some damage. This train of thought, only lasted as long as Toshiro happened to be asleep, and the small boy suddenly sat up, about ten in the morning, rubbing his eyes.

"Ehh… where am I?" came the childish male voice.

"You don't remember what happened last night Toshiro?" Ichigo was in a way, a tad bit hopeful that the small boy wouldn't remember what had happened.

"Oi… it's Hitsugaya… not Toshiro," came the typical response from the youth. "Why am I in your father's room?"

"That would be… you really don't remember what happened last night?" Ichigo stated, only to have two still rather groggy eyes turn to look at him. He had to hold back a laugh, as Toshiro tried to unsuccessfully hold back a yawn.

"No, I don't remember what happened last night," the boy muttered.

"Well, when you get dressed, Oto-san wishes to talk to his youngest son," came the laugh.

"It can't wait until I eat. I don't know how long it has been since I have done so," the boy rubbed his eyes.

"Fine by me… see you at breakfast," came the laugh, as he got up and walked down the stairs, to see what all was going on. Karin was sitting on the couch, watching the television. "So, why aren't you playing soccer today?"

"The rains flooded the practice field so much, that one is likely to sink into the ground," Karin sighed. "We're waiting to see if it dries up a bit. That is what one gests when one happens to have a player who's mother happens to hate mud."

"I got it, I got it," Ichigo stated, going and sitting down.

"Breakfast has been ready for some time! I'll reheat the oatmeal for you!" Yuzu chirped from in the kitchen.

"By the way, Ichi-nii, how's Toshiro doing?" Karin turned and glanced over from the couch, a bit of worry written in her eyes.

"What do you mean by how am I doing?" came a voice from the stair way. As far as I can tell, I am quite fine."

"Even after what happened last night?" Karin murmured.

"I don't remember having anything happen to me last night," the boy bit back. After a few minutes, Yuzu brought over two bowls of reheated oatmeal.

Karin, who had been sitting quite bored, came and sat down at the table with them. "Toshiro… are you sure you all right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Toshiro lifted a spoonful to his mouth.

"Because last night I found you in the bathroom, your skin completely cold, almost as if you had gotten caught out in the rain," Karin stated firmly.

At first, her comment didn't register with Toshiro, as he took a drink of milk. However, his eyes suddenly went wide, and the milk suddenly shot out of his nose. He grabbed for a napkin on the table, his face flushing as he tried to clean up his face, then the table. "You walked in on me in the bathroom again!"

"I wouldn't call it walking in. How'd you get that nasty injury on your shoulder?"

"It isn't any of your business," came the snapping tone.

"Ne, Toshiro… you didn't get upset about your sister, and suddenly decide to go for a walk, did you?" Yuzu asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, her melodic voice filled with worry.

"Ehh…" Toshiro's face was suddenly turning red, and he glanced at Ichigo, his eyes a bit wide, compared to his usual grumpy countenance. "Really… I…"

"So you really don't remember last night?" Karin asked again.

"Unfortunately when you brought it up I had no choice but remember the fact that I girl happened to see me butt naked in the bath tub!" Hitsugaya's sudden raise in voice and frustration caused Ichigo to raise his eyebrow at the young shingami.

"Well… all three of us could take a bath together sometime, right?" Yuzu suddenly piped up. "Ichi-nii doesn't take baths with us anymore…"

This caused two teal eyes to suddenly go as wide as possible, and Toshiro's cheeks to flush red. He glanced first at Karin, who looked like she had been hit in a hammer, then at Kurosaki, who happened to have narrowed his eyes at him. He then closed them, standing up and knocking over his breakfast. "What is it with you two and not getting that I'm a boy and both of you are girls!"

At that, he stormed away, not waiting to hear the lecture that he could half way hear the substitute soul reaper giving Yuzu for having brought up the subject. He instead, headed towards where Isshin was in his clinic, and went and sat down, rather irritated. His tone turned back to normal. "So, you wanted to speak with me, Isshin-san?"

"Yes… ehh… what happened this time?" Isshin's face was twitching, which was not ever a usual thing for that man.

"I remembered that Karin walked in on me in the bathroom last night, and your other daughter thinks it is completely all right for everyone to take baths together! What do you think happened!" Toshiro suddenly yelled, causing a few of the patients to stare, and a few giggle.

"Ahh… excuse us…" Isshin grabbed Toshiro into his office by the ear, closing the door behind him. "Seems you are the same as ever. It is good to know that you are feeling much better too."

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Toshiro stated, taking a seat in the chair by the computer. He had a completely bored look on his face.

"What did I…" the old man glanced at the ceiling suddenly. "It is important that I tell you this, as it relates to Atsuo…"

There was a sudden clattering, as Toshiro stood up, knocking the chair over as he did so. There was a sudden feeling, as if a breeze was going through the room. "Taicho…"

"Toshiro! Calm down! I really need to talk to you about this!" the man stated, holding up a hand in front of the small boy. "It's important."

Hitsugaya however slapped his hand away. "Important my ass! The man has been dead for thirty years! It isn't fare, or is right of you to dredge up certain memories!"

Isshin's eyes narrowed, as he saw the boy suddenly storm out of the room. This caused him to close his eyes. "Problem is, he hasn't been dead at all… shit…"

**M**

The small tenth division taicho walked around for what felt like ages. Because of the rain, everything had managed to cool down to a bearable temperature. Somehow, he ended up at one of the parks. He leaned up against the tree, staring at the sky, trying to make sense of things. His dragon was suddenly rather irritable. "_I think for once, you should have listened to him, Hitsugaya…_"

"_Hyorinmaru… are you… fidgeting?_" Toshiro blinked a couple of times, realizing that his dragon had suddenly become rather fidgety indeed.

"_I think we should leave…_" the dragon hummed.

"_If it is a hollow, then I can try to handle it. I mean, it shouldn't be that high of a level, else I would have easily sensed it, and if it is higher up, Kurosaki would have come running_," the boy stated, then thought in his head. "_Of course, him 'finding' said hollow is a different matter. He isn't dumb, but he's as naïve as his youngest sister…_"

"_It isn't a hollow_," the dragon hissed in his ears.

"_If it isn't a hollow, I need not worry_," Toshiro stated, closing his eyes, enjoying the weather.

"_Toshiro… leave before you yourself sense it…_" the dragon stated, fidgeting in Toshiro's mind some more.

"_As if I am going to run… away…_" However, Toshiro's eyes suddenly shot open, as he felt a slightly familiar rietsu drifting towards him. "_It can't be… I mean…_"

He heard footsteps approaching him, stepping on the gravel, and felt a strong hand places on his shoulder. "Hey… kiddo, are you all right?"

Toshiro's two eyes remained locked on the ground, not daring to look up, due to the fact, there was something that he most definitely didn't wish to confirm. He swallowed hard.

"Look… some of the people in the park stopped me while I was on my patrol, because you were loitering around here," the man sighed, the voice all too familiar. There was no way in hell, that this could be happening to him. His body was yet again, wanting to bolt, to get away from everything.

"There shouldn't be anyone spending a nice day as this in the park… or are they like everyone else… thinking I am here to cause trouble," Toshiro's mouth blurted out, completely unintentionally.

"No… some people wondered if you weren't sick though," the man stated. "Could you at least look me in the face so I can tell that you are all right kid?"

"I'm not a kid…" Toshiro grumbled. "_You of all people should have known that… you should have recognized me by my rietsu…_"

"All right… all right… you aren't a kid," the man sighed, then moved his hand the boy's chin, moving it up. "I need to get a look, to make sure that you are fine."

"Just leave him alone, Atsuo-san," came a voice nearby. "He's obviously some punk kid, that we shouldn't worry about."

"Does your sempai partner need to reprimand you," the man stated, looking away. Toshiro could now see his face, and the resemblance, and the name were definitely there.

"_Please… don't look me in the eye…"_ came his thoughts. However, the man turned and looked him straight in the eye, his jaw dropping slightly, for some reason.

At that, Toshiro felt like he couldn't handle it anymore, and pulled away, breaking out into a run. "_Baka! Stupid, stupid me! Isshin-san taicho was trying to warn me! You were trying to warn me!_"

"_Child of mine! Watch where you are going!_" the dragon snapped, as Toshiro hurried as he did. "_He wasn't going to hurt you!_"

"_If he doesn't remember, I can't make him realize that I know him! I can't act like a complete idiot and jeopardize soul society's safety!"_ came Toshiro's reply.

"_Toshiro! Watch where you are going!_" the dragon was suddenly panicking, which caused Toshiro to suddenly realize, he hadn't been paying attention at all, to the things that happened to come into his peripheral vision. After he had run away from Atsuo-san, who had been dressed in a police officer's uniform, everything in his site was a blur.

"_Please… little one… look around you! Hurry!_" his dragon sang out, indicating that something was seriously wrong around them, but Toshiro couldn't figure out what it was, as his mind couldn't focus.

However, he felt himself suddenly step down off something, and glancing down, he realized he was in the street. That meant that he had done something completely childish, as run into the street. That also meant that what his dragon had been warning him about, was the oncoming traffic. This caused his eyes to suddenly shoot up.

And as he did so, his two teal eyes became wide, as he suddenly saw a car hurtling towards him. He swallowed hard, realizing that Atsuo hadn't followed him, and even if that had been the case, neither would likely have had time to move by now, without one of them likely getting hurt. He had really messed up this time.


	20. Mistake

_Author's note – Someone provided a really nice multiple choice for what is going to happen. I'll tell you, one of them is right! A) Atsuo saves him, B)Karin saves him, C)Isshin saves him, D) Ichigo saves him, E)He gets hit and therefore hospitalized and more drama is created, or F) None of the above._

**Understanding  
**_**~Mistake~**_

To say the least, he should have known to listen to Hyorinmaru. How he could have come to ignore his dragon's good wisdom, ever since he had first come to lose his temper back in soul society, at Aizen? Yes… the ice dragon had been reprimanding him ever since then, which in itself was irritating, which might have been why he didn't listen. He should have known though, to listen to the old dragon.

He had glanced up, to see the car bearing down on him. The speed wasn't that fast, however, it also happened to be fast enough, that he couldn't dodge it. Practically every part of his body had frozen, like a deer caught in headlights. That was, except for his eyes, which had quickly adverted and closed.

His body also tensed up, to brace for impact, knowing that the collision would likely hurt, not to mention, hurt worse than any pain that he had ever come to feel. That thought wasn't something that he found to be very pleasing. There were quite a few things left to do in life, including stopping Aizen. He didn't want to die… not yet.

There was also the fact, he had yet to reconcile with Hinamori. His heart was still grieving over the fact she had ousted him from her life, and disincluded, in her opinion, him from the family, simply because Aizen had warped her mind so very much. It had almost seemed like she no longer was the person he had grown up with anymore, but someone else.

To his utter surprise, he found something wrap around his chest and yank him up off the ground. He also heard a large crunching sound as the car hit something, yet he didn't at all feel any of the pain at all. Instead, he felt the momentum of himself and whatever was holding onto him, travel a couple of feet.

"Are you all right?" came the rather loud voice near his head, sort of. Things were, to put it in the best way, not making sense at all.

He heard a car door also open, then slam shut. "What the hell do you think you're doing, wreaking my car like that!"

Two vividly teal eyes shot open, and saw that he had somehow been lifted two feet in the air off the ground. Two, humongous shoes were attached to the person who was holding him, which in turn caused him to look up at the person to discover it was the dark skinned giant, that he remembered seeing with the other ryoka.

"You're…"

"Are you all right?" the giant iterated again, still holding onto the small taicho.

"I am going to ask you again, baka, what are you going to do about wrecking my car! I doubt you could afford to buy me a new one!" the man snapped back.

Toshiro's eyes traveled to the care, and the big guys side. To him, the man's side was rather bloody, and he couldn't figure out how his rescuer was still standing.

"Didn't you see where you were driving," another person piped up, coming towards them. "You almost hit that little kid the guy protected!"

Normally, Toshiro would have made a livid and disgusted face at this, but it completely went past him, that someone had called him a little kid. He couldn't help but continue to stare at his rescuers arm, which looked pretty bad. "_This… this is my entire fault… again…_"

"Someone call an ambulance!" came another voice.

"Hitsugaya-kun, are you all right?" the big guy asked.

"You… you're one of Kurosaki's friends," came the reply that could finally be chocked out.

"Uhh-huh… my name is Chad," the boy stated. "I would take you to Orihime's, but I don't know where she lives. So, I guess the clinic will have to do."

To Hitsugaya's utter amazement, the guy began to walk away from the accident, back towards the place that Toshiro had come to be living for the past week. One of the people spoke up. "You two should wait for the ambulance!"

"Don't worry… I can get to the clinic walking," Chad stated. His head turned to the guy from the car. "Do you need me to take you too?"

"What the fucking hell!" the man stated.

"All right…" the guy stated, and began to walk, switching Toshiro so that he was being carried under one of his arms, in a rather humiliating position. Yet this seemed not to faze him, so much as the fact that this huge guy was still walking, and gleaning stares from those passing them on by. Hitsugaya pretended not to notice, and refused to look anyone in the face.

Suddenly the guy came to a stop. "Chad? Toshiro?"

"Hello Ichigo," the guy stated, his other hand raising to wave at Ichigo.

"What the hell is going on? I know why you are here… well, Toshiro would be here, because he's staying here, but what the hell happened?" Ichigo stated firmly.

"You don't want to know… I don't want to know…" came the reply from Toshiro, who still hung limply in the arms of the huge giant.

Suddenly, Ichigo was taking him from Chad, and setting the preteen onto his own two feet. Instead of getting two teal eyes to look him in the face, he found them to be glancing at the ground, refusing to look up. "I am going to ask again, what happened?"

"We got hit by a car," came the simple reply from the giant.

"Well, I can tell you got hit by a car," the orange haired youth muttered, grabbing Toshiro by the shoulders. "_Both_ of you are going into the clinic to be looked over by my dad."

"I'm fine," came the giant's response.

"Hell as if you are Chad!" Ichigo suddenly spat out. "You are going to come into the clinic, or I will personally kick you but, because that falls into the line of fighting to protect you!"

"All right…" Chad muttered, following the two of them in. Isshin glanced up, and suddenly grimaced when he saw Chad.

"What the hell happened this time?" Isshin muttered.

"We got hit by a car," came the reply.

"We…" the old man's eyes suddenly drifted over to Toshiro, who still couldn't look up from the ground. "Hell no! Toshiro, what the hell have you done this time?"

To everyone's surprise, Toshiro made a quick bow. "I am so sorry!"

"I'll take a look at getting Chad bandaged up. I am then going to have a good, long chat with our young ward," Isshin stated. "Could you take him to one of the rooms so I can look him over later, Ichigo?"

"Sure… sure…" the orange haired guy stated, turning to leave.

"I am fine…" Chad stated firmly.

"Yes… but the kiddo doesn't know that, and he's likely feeling guilty about it. Could you at least let me bandage it up, fix it up and stay the night for his peace of mind?"

"Hai…"

**M**

Toshiro sat on one of the clinic bed. Ichigo was sitting with him, which irritated him to no end. "You know… you can leave now…"

"I want to know what happened," Ichigo stated. "If it was one of my sisters, or one of my friends, which you are by the way, I would want to know."

"I got upset and ran in front of a car without paying attention," Toshiro blurted out. "Now will you leave me alone?"

"You ran in front…" Ichigo suddenly began to chuckle, but then stopped short. "You were serious…"

"Duh…" Toshiro finally looked up at him, half biting his lip.

"Toshiro… Chad will be fine. He's had things, like steel beams fall on his head," the boy stated, only to have the young one hang his head again.

"It doesn't change what happened from not being my fault. I am a complete ass whole."

"No you're not," Ichigo sighed, reaching out to pat the white head of hair, and was surprised that Toshiro didn't pull away. "Plus… I think Chad will agree with dad and me, we're both glad that you aren't hurt. Dad will want to know."

"Of course… he's a doctor," Toshiro stated, glancing at the wall, just in time for said person to come into the room.

"Ichigo… can I speak to Toshiro alone?" the man stated.

"Ahh… sure dad," Ichigo stated, as he got up, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"I am sorry taicho," came the child's reply.

"What for?" Isshin stated.

"Because, if I hadn't run into the street, he wouldn't have gotten hurt! It's all my fault that he did!" Two teal eyes were looking him straight in the face.

"I also talked to Chad. He's not one much for words, except when he needs to be. He said you weren't at all paying attention to where you were going. You've kinda been doing that a lot lately."

"That is rather uncharacteristic of me, isn't it?" came the reply.

"Hell yeah…" Isshin stated, taking out his stethoscope, and listening to Toshiro's breathing.

"That's cold," came the startled reply. "I don't like checkups."

"I am just checking to see that nothing bad happened to yourself, like from stiffening up too much," Isshin sighed.

"Ne… taicho… when you grabbed me when we were at the elementary school… what would have happened if I hadn't," Toshiro glanced up, in time to see the man's Adam apple bob.

"I didn't want to grab or yell at you that day Toshiro. But…" the ex-taicho closed his eyes. "Truth of the matter is, I was worried sick something like this would happen, and that someone like Chad wouldn't be there to pull you out of this mess… or the car stop in time."

"Yeah… Hyorinmaru tired snapping me out of it, but I haven't been very good at listening to him lately. Are you mad at me?"

"How could I be mad at you? A little disappointed in a way, as out of all my kids, you're supposed to be the smartest, but then again, you also have struggled the most emotionally, even more so then Yuzu I guess. Or Karin, depending on the situation. But most of all, you've had me worried sick the past few days."

"I wish I had stopped and listened to you earlier… you had something important to say to me, didn't you?" the child sighed, again glancing at the ground.

"I did… I still do. Are you willing to sit still and let me tell you," Isshin stated firmly.

"I think… it is a bit late. I ran into Atsuo Fukutaicho at the park…" the boy stated, a few tears involuntarily falling down his cheeks. "It isn't fair… I thought both of you dead…"

"I thought him to be dead too, Toshiro," Isshin sighed. "His situation… it's different then mine."

"He didn't recognize me. He's forgotten who I am. How can that be? I was the last person to see him. I'll even admit I hero-worshiped him a bit, and he always brought sanity to the division. I was jealous of how well you two worked together," came the sudden outburst.

"He doesn't recognize me either. Probably less than he does you. There was nothing to be jealous of, Toshiro. You and I worked well together," the man smiled.

"Like father and son. I was more of thinking about Matsumoto and me… I _can't _get her to do paperwork," Toshiro complained. "She's always off drinking sake. You never had those kinds of problems with Atsuo-san!"

"That's because I had them with a certain third seat," Isshin suddenly burst out laughing. "Matsumoto is Matsumoto, end of story. Yet… you two always worked well together. She got along better with you really, then she ever did with Atsuo or me."

"Uhh… uhh," Toshiro shook his head.

"Why don't you get some rest? You've had… a rather up and down day, haven't you?" Isshin smiled, half-heartedly. "I'll come and get you when it's closer to dinner time, unless you are hungry right now for lunch?"

Toshiro shook his head, and plopped down onto the bed, listening for once, what the man had to say to him. He stayed there for some time, only to have, a few minutes later, the door creep open.


	21. Soap

**Understanding  
**_**~Soap~**_

Time itself became inmeasurable as he lay there in the clinic room. For all he knew, it had only been a few minutes. All he knew really, was he was doing what his former taicho had told him to do, relaxing, whther he liked it or not. He heard the door suddenly kreep open, and he fel his body flinch. "_Please tell me, it isn't who I think it is._"

"_I hope it is who you think it is. I find the two of you funny._"

"_Hyranmaru!_" Of course, Hitsugaya had to wonder, why the dragon found his interaction with a certain someone to be funny.

"Toshiro!" the voice was filled with anger, admonishment, and a lot of other conitations. Concidering who it belonged to, their were numberous lukelyhoods as to why the tone was being used.

"_It is who I thought it was! I am so doomed!_" Toshiro's stomach did a few flips of agitation.

"_I think the two of you make a cute couple._" It was hard to tell if the dragon was serious, or purposefully teasing him, which was disturbing.

"_Hyranmaru_!" Came the extremely upset reply from the child captain. "_I can't believe that you said that! My zampaktuo is a pervert_!"

"_And you're being silly_!"

"Toshiro! Could you at least look at me when I talk to you!" Karin's irritation was actually growing, from the sound of her voice.

Of course, Hitsugaya's won irritation was growing. Other then last night, he hadn't recollected one time, sh had been nice to him, except for the night before. Last night was also debatable whether that was really being nice, due to the level of embaressment involved with the situation.

Truth of the matter, he was getting tierd of the level of hatred she threw his way. Perhaps it wasn't intentional, yet he was still in the know that he wasn't wanted. This was how he saw the whole situation. He sat up in a hurry, irritation in his own voice.

"You know what, Kurosaki-san, fuck off," the words came pouring out of his mouth. He didn't care one bit, how much trouble he wouldn't get into. Then again, this really hadn't crossed his mind.

Karin's face twisted, completely hurt and angry. "Bastard! Don't tell me that. When it's your fault Ichigo's friend got hurt!"

This caused two teal eyes to become flored with his temper. The next thing either one of the two preteens knew relized it, a string of name calling, was going back and forth between the two, not to mention the curse words escalated.

The level of malice got to the point, that only one thing stopped Toshiro's mouth. Karin though, who couldn't see behind her, took the boy's pale, green face as a chance to berate him. He, however, shook his head and mad a cutting motion across his throat. "Dad's behind me… isn't he?"

"Hell he is," came the rather angry voice behind her. "Hitsugaya, to my side now."

Karin's eyes widened, as she watched Toshiro respond to her father's barking command. The first response or thought that came to her mind, was military brat, which was confirmed by Toshiro's tone of, "hai!"

Isshin then grabbed the two by the ear, and not caring how embaressed either are was, made them to follow him into the kitchen. Letting go of their ears, he pulled two chairds from the table, and set them facing the wall. "Sit now."

Both complied, while Karin couldn't help but glare at Toshiro. The boy was acting like it was a military command that her father had given him. Hitsugaya, picking up on her on the fact, in turn, turned to her, his glare venomous. Both knew though, not to say a word. Isshin first went to one of the bathroom, then went to the kitchen, where a sawing second with one of the kitchen utensils could be heard. The man then stormed back over. "Open your mouths."

Both of the miscrient children reluctantly did so and Isshin stuck a piece of soap into each to his clinic duties.

"I want both of you to stay here, no speaking, no removing of the soap. You are to do that, until I happen. To get back and say otherwise. "Got it?" When both nodded their heads, he went back to his clinic duties.

Things remained silent for a short period of time. Yuzu came downstairs and headed towards the kitchen, not paying them anymind. However, they soon heard her cry out. "Who killed my flower soap."

Karin began to suddenly have a giggle fit, only to be glared at by Toshiro. Yuzu heard the sound, and came over with her hands on her hips. "It isn't funny! Whoever did that was mean! Half of its missing! You know one of our friends at school gave me the soup making kit for our birthday!"

This caused the other twin, to suddenly point to her mouth. One might have not thought it possible, but Yuzu's pout grew. "How could the two of you! Bad words are stupid! I'm going to my side of the room to read a book. I'm also not talking to either one of you! Not only is it not funny, you two need to learn to get along with each other!"

Yuzu then stormed up the stairs, seriously upset. Karin, unfortunately, had a retort to this, removing the soup from her mouth. "I wasn't laughing at getting in trouble. I was laughing at dad using one of Yuzu's soaps. Though… it is more nasty then other soap."

Two teal eyes glared at her, which caused her to narrow her eyes not to mention, return the glare. "Dad's not here. What are you going to do? Tattle on me? It's completely boring… even you have to admit that."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes in annoyance, onlt to suddenly have his Adam's apple bob down. The next thing is either knew, he was clutching his throat, as his eyes suddenly became wide. Karin watched, simply unamused. That was until he blurted out. "Oh God!"

"See here… bad words aren't amusing either," the female signed.

"No! I swallowed it!" He continued to clutch his throat, panic striken.

"I don't think… that's good for you," Karin couldn't help to notice the sudden paleness, not to mention green shading, that appeared on his face. "I'll... go get help."

**M**

Karin got up from where she had been sitting, and set her piece of soap down, and headed towards where her father was. "Dad?"

"Kaarin?" Her father glanced up, his face not happy to see her. "I thought you were supposed to be in time out."

"But…" she quickly found herself interrupted.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Get back to sitting until I say so, the man grumbled, turning back to his paperwork.

"Fine." Karin muttered, storming back to where she had come from. Toshiro's face was even greener, and there was a chance he happened to have heard her and her father yelling. He was also clutching his stomack, as if it hurt.

Karin then hurried up the door, and knocked on her brother's door. She received permission to enter. When she opened the door, she swore her bother was hiding a stuffed animal behind his back. "Toshiro swallowed soap."

"What…" her borther's, let's act innocent face suddenly dropped.

"He swallowed soap," Karin sighed.

"I am not going to ask how he ended up getting his mouth washed out with soap. That doesn't really surprise me. What surprises me, is the fact he managed to swallow it. Bars of soap, should be too small, to do that with."

"It was a quarter of Yuzu's mini flower soap. We each had to put it into our mouths," the preteen sighed.

"Dad cut up Yuzu's special soap?" Ichigo shook his head. "She's going to be pissed."

"She already knows," came the blunt reply. "She's sulking in our room and has said that she is not speaking to me. Or Toshiro, for which I'm glad."

Ichigo raised an eybrow. "You mean to tell me, where going to have to make our own dinner?"

"Is that all you can say? Toshiro's likely to puke on the living room floor, and your thinking about what's for dinner?" Karin's look though, didn't seem to phase him, other then to get him moving.

"Right, right…" Ichjgio chuckled, dropping what was behind his back, then shoved his sister out of the room so she didn't have time to confirm her theory. "Why didn't you get dad to help?"

As they went down the stairs, the raven head let out a sigh. "I tried. I'm in trouble, and supposed to be staying put."

Instead of stopping to talk to talk to Toshiro, Ichigo headed straight to the clinic. "Hey dad?"

"Yeah… Karin… your supposed to be in timeout," their father sighed, as Karin stood just behind her brother.

"Here me out dad," came the eldest Kurosaki's response. "Toshiro swallowed the soap you put into his mouth."

"Use cod-liver oil," Isshin stated off handedly, not truly paying attention. Ichigo took off, without him even noticing.

"Dad, you just realize, you told Ichigo, to give Toshiro cod-liver oil, and he is going to go do it?" His daughter shook her head, not at all impressed with her father's antics.

"Ichigo's…" Isshin suddenly paused, a horrified look growing on his face. "Shit!"

The next thing that was happening, Isshin was heading towards the living room. He was just in time, to see his eldest, manage to stuff a spoon into the smaller boy's mouth, only to have him gag, and vomit onto the floor. Kurosaki senior stepped over, scratching his head. "I see that the soap didn't come up."

"You told me to do it!" Ichigo stated, his temper flaring, as the two preteens watched.

"And this is why I always tell you to not help in the clinic, and instead to go curl in a fetal position. Your sisters have more common sense then you do with this!" his father stated, rather exasperated. "I wonder how you are my son sometimes."

"Oh… thanks dad," Ichigo muttered. "You _told _me…"

"You aren't supposed to follow my instructions when I am not paying attention to what your saying," Isshin couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Help your sister clean up."

"What?" Karin's eyes suddenly grew wide.

"You were talking when you had your soap in your mouth, weren't you?" the man stated. "I am not going to push this on Yuzu."

"Good… she's already mad at three of you," Ichigo suddenly scratched his head.

"What do you mean?" Isshin's eyes had a look of surprise on them.

"You _cut up _her soap dad," came the quip back.

"_Shit…_" Senior Kurosaki picked Toshiro up under the arms, and began to take him upstairs.

"Bad words dad," Karin chided.

**M**

The first thing that Isshin did, when he got upstairs, was bang on the girl's door. "Yuzu… are you making dinner tonight?"

There was a silence, then the door suddenly creeped open. "Dad was as mean as Karin and Toshiro."

"I am so sorry. Daddy wasn't thinking!" the man suddenly faked cried, much to Toshiro's annoyance.

"Daddy never thinks!" came Yuzu's reply.

"What about Ichigo?" her father tried.

"No," the girl stated, then closed the door.

"Looks like I'm stuck ordering pizza tonight," Isshin stated, heading to his room with Toshiro. "I am surprised she didn't even notice you.

He set Toshiro down on the futon, at the foot of his bed, and then sat down crosslegged in front of him. "All right mister, where did you learn such language?"

"Hic… was the real… hic… reason you… hic… brought me up here… hic… so you could talk to me privately… hic," the small taicho's chest heaved with heavy hiccups. A couple of bubbles, thanks to the soap, came from his mouth.

"All right, all right, fare enough," Isshin rolled his eyes. "Where did you learn such laungage from? I never heard you say it before."

"Most of it I learned from you, Ikkaku and Yumichika, but mostly you," the boy stated, hiccupping every so often.

"Most of it… I avoided a good deal of laungange when I was around you. How can you say that," Isshin sighed.

"You never took into concideration when I wasn't around," came the firm response, despite more hiccups. "There are other things…"

"I don't want to know what else I taught you," Isshin hissed. "You are a captain now Toshiro."

"Yet I'm supposed to act my age. I don't get it," came through hiccups.

Isshin's face suddenly softened. "You shouldn't do it really, no matter what age you are, fair enough? And, I don't think they want you to act like a miscrient. More of, to enjoy yourself, and understand your limits."

"I understand my limits. I can only hold Bankai for so long," the boy commented, confused, and still hiccupping.

"That wasn't what I was talking about, limit wise," Isshin sighed, scratching his head. "Look… I'm going to order pizza. If you are still hiccupping by the time you finished, I'll give you a sedative, so you body can calm down."

"I am calm," Toshiro blinked his eyes.

"No… you aren't," Isshin sighed.

_Author's note – As of this chapter, I will have one-million words archived._


	22. Cloudy to Sunny

**Understanding  
**_**~Cloudy to Sunny~**_

Something was pulling at his mind, a pain in his forehead, which caused him to suddenly open his eyes, only to wince in pain. His two teal eyes glanced around, taking in the fact that he had been sleeping in the futon in his ex-taicho's room. That meant he at least wasn't waking up in shock from being somewhere he normally wasn't.

The pain in his head throbbed, as he tried remembering what had happened. What he had remembered was Isshin brining up a couple of slices of pizza, and making sure the greasy food went down into his stomach, and then the man gave him something to help him to sleep. That was a good thing, as Toshiro had found himself to be tiered, yet his body was refusing to fall asleep.

He had quite a few weird dreams during the night, involving interacting with the Kurosaki family, and he remembered that he had overhead in one of his dreams, Tomo Atsuo talking with Isshin about something, and Karin griping about things, but then that was normal. He figured that the stress of everything was simply getting to him.

He sat up, looked out the window, and noticed that the sunlight was at a point that indicated that it was morning, but not early morning. He placed a hand on his head and pressed the cool palm in, trying to make the throbbing go away. He flinched as he tried standing, and used the cloth on the bed, to help him up from the ground.

He then headed out of the door, and towards the bathroom. The door was open and walked in, turning on the tap, using his hands to splash cold water in his face. He took a gander into the mirror and winced, as his hair was a complete mess of bed head, which made him, wonder how well he had actually slept. He splashed some more water into his face, still trying to wake up the rest of the way.

He didn't hear the other person, but instead saw her, as she stepped in behind him. "You're finally up. You have a horrible case of bed head."

"You know, Kurosaki-san, you are a major pessimist," the boy shook his head, and tried splashing more water into his face, even running some through his hair, so he could straighten it out.

He didn't notice the disgusted look on her face; however, her words quickly came to his ears. "You are seriously more of a narcissist than any girl I know."

This caused his head to bob up, then for him to let out a groan. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're preening yourself in front of a mirror," the girl stated, her eyes narrowing.

"Do you even know what that looks like?" Toshiro ran his hand through his white hair, his teal eyes wondering about what she was up to this time.

"I know that you are spending more time with your appearance then Yuzu does," Karin stated, her face saying that she was quite sure of what she had said. Toshiro just turned and stared at her, raising one eyebrow. Karin shook her head. "What?"

"Nothing…" Hitsugaya sighed, turning back to the mirror, frustrated with what he saw there.

"Umm… yeah. You're a narcissist," the girl sighed, causing him to grumble.

"I am not!" the boy protested, suddenly turning to her and wrinkling his nose at her, the suddenly slamming his hand over one eye, as his head throbbed. "What did he give me?"

"Don't you mean how long you were asleep? If you sleep to long, you can get a headache from that, and I think you slept too long," the girl sighed. "Do you have any idea what today is?"

"Friday," Toshiro muttered, suddenly plugging up the sink, and filling it up with cold water, and then dunking his head in. Karin was watching carefully.

"Saturday. It is Saturday Toshiro. You were out of it for a full day. Dad says that your stress levels were that high. Stress is bad, and not healthy," Karin stated.

This caused a white head of hair to pop up, splashing water all over the place. "What… ow… how can it be Saturday? Yesterday was Thursday… you're playing some prank on me…"

"No, I'm not," Karin rolled her eyes at him, only to have him shove by, and head over to Ichigo's room, opening the door with a flourish.

The orange haired teen raised an eyebrow, as he looked up from a book he was reading. "What is the matter?"

"Please… ow… tell me I wasn't asleep for a full day!" the preteen boy bubbled out, rather agitated.

"Karen, couldn't you have broken the news to him somehow nicer," Ichigo sighed, as Toshiro's jaw dropped. "By the way, it's a good thing you are up. Uncle Atsuo has today off, and when he stopped by yesterday to talk to dad… about the incident, he asked if he could talk to you privately."

"Toshiro can't go. He's got a headache," came the raven-haired twin's response.

"Karin…" Ichigo suddenly grumbled, then set his book down. He grabbed Toshiro's shoulder, and dragged him downstairs, much to more wincing of the small boy, as his head throbbed as he moved. The substitute shingami, then cracked open a cupboard, and pulled out a bottle, then put it back. "Toshiro… what flavor?"

"What do you mean, what flavor?" the small boy blinked a couple of times.

"Dad… Karen, go away!" Ichigo stated, suddenly turning and glaring at his younger sister.

"Fine, I won't help!" Thumping could be heard on the stairway.

"Look, dad will kill me, if I give you the adult dosage. I don't think they make kids medicines that aren't flavored. And please don't argue with me. Your body's still half the size of mine," the boy turned towards the boy. "Never mind… I'll just pick grape. I hate the fact that we have strawberry."

"Should I trust that you know you are doing?" Toshiro turned a little pale.

"This is the one medical thing my dad trusts me with. It isn't as if you are sick. You just have a headache," Ichigo stated, shaking out a dose and pushing the chewable into the small captain's hands.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," the boy stated, popping them into his mouth.

"Well, what do you do when you have a headache? Ignore it and drink green tea, hoping it will go away?" Ichigo asked, only to get Toshiro to suddenly raise his eyebrows. "Sorry I asked."

Toshiro sighed, and glanced at the ceiling, then suddenly felt a wet cloth over his eyes. "Ahh… thanks."

"Welcome. Uncle Atsuo means well, like dad, but with less psychoness… no, dad is a psycho, Uncle Atsuo is not," Ichigo sat down nearby. "He saw you in the park two days ago, when you went and ran in front of that car."

"I was being stupid, wasn't I?" the boy leaned back, letting the coolness to kick in, and letting out a sigh of relief.

"I don't think he's doing this to give you a lecture. I think dad gave him your sob story, and he's worried more about how you're transitioning in here," Ichigo stated. "Which… isn't very well, is it?"

"That goes without saying," Toshiro pulled up the cloth, to glance at the teenager's face, to see that it had quite a bit of worry in there.

"Is there anything that I can do to make it easier for you?" the boy stated.

"I could go around in soul reaper form, and let my soul candy take the brunt of the problems with Karen," the boy stated.

"Coward," Ichigo laughed, only to get a confused look from the boy. "Just relax. He'll be here in a couple of hours."

Toshiro found himself lost to his thought, and headed into his inner world, his breathing slowing, as he found this to be the easiest way for him to go and relieve the stress. "_Why… why is all of this happening to me. It's as if my world is being turned upside down, and is tearing at me. I want… what do I want?_"

He didn't know how long he was out of it, but he snapped back into the real world, when he felt the cloth yanked off his forehead, only to have Karen glare at him. "Uncle Atsuo is here."

"Be nice Karen," the man stated, from somewhere nearby, which caused Toshiro to bolt up straight, then turn and stare at the man, his eyes wide.

"Tomo-san…" the boy stated.

The man gave him a smile, "Just call me Uncle Atsuo, just like the other kids."

"I…" Toshiro paused, finding himself, only able to stare.

"You are wondering why I am here?" the man nodded his head to the door. "Isshin isn't exactly the best person to talk to, when it comes to problems. He tends to simply make it worse. And while Ichigo is mature for his age, he isn't an adult either."

"Isshin isn't an adult either," Toshiro suddenly commented, a smirk on his face.

This caused the brown haired man to smile himself. "Touché. Let's go out."

Hitsugaya shrugged his shoulders, then followed the man towards the door, only to have Karen glare at his back. She was definitely in a rather bad move. They walked along, until they came to the park, and they went and sat on a bench, after Atsuo bought some feed for the birds that were there. "Before we start with the reason why you are here, can I tell you a story."

"I don't see why not," the boy stated.

"My story… it might seem like a strange one, or it might not. I'll let you decide. About thirty to forty years ago, I happened to have been in an accident, out in the dessert. I have only the memory, roughly of what happened during that period of time."

Atsuo then continued. "I remembered being with a small boy. I personally think that he was my nephew, but I am not really sure. It is somewhat funny, because you look like him. But that can't be… no, shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances, should it."

"No, that isn't normal," the boy stated. "I mean, considering my hair and eye color, and how rare it is."

"Toshiro… can I ask you something. Are you able to see spirits like Ichigo, maybe Karen?" Atsuo stared off into space, almost as if he were searching for answers.

"I am not quite sure what this has to do with anything , but if you know about their gift, I think it is safe to say that I am able to," the boy stated.

"That's something else for me to think about and put together," the man stated. "Is it comfortable, living with the two girls?"

"Yuzu is all right. Karen though keeps getting mad, and I prefer to stay away from her, to inhibit her ability to cause me bodily harm."

Atsuo suddenly laughed. "That wasn't what I meant. I wanted to let you know though, if you ever feel overly crowded, or uncomfortable at Isshin's place, you can come stay at mine."

"That is a rather weird offer," the boy stated, glancing at the sky. He didn't expect what the man said next.

"Not really, if you are older than Ichigo year wise."

_Author notes – Well, here is an update. Don't know when I will be updating ANY of my stories, as my family and I are in the process of moving._


	23. Epilog

**Understanding  
**_**~Epilog~**_

From the sounds of Tomo Atsuo's words, it was apparent that while the man's memories were foggy, he was still able to derive a conclusion, making it so that he had a vague idea of what was going on. It also seemed that the man happened to be seeking out those memories so that he would be able to, one might say, find himself.

Hitsugaya found himself in rather shock. He in one way, envied the man, as the man was striving to be who he was, even if it meant that soul society might turn on him, what with some of the laws that were there and might make it hard for him to return, or treat him like a traitor. It was also having some problems seeking in.

He also realized that he had pushed his feelings aside, in a way that was detrimental to not just himself, but also to another person. If he hadn't reacted negatively, and had tried to talk it out, the substitute soul reapers friend wouldn't have gotten hurt. This ate at him a bit, and when he got back to the house, he headed to the place that he felt the most secure.

It was there that Isshin ended up finding him. The man happened to sit down, and just stare out at the stars, not saying anything to the small boy. He had a typical Isshin smile on his face. Toshiro finally spoke up. "When you yelled at me at the school, it wasn't because you were angry at me, was it?"

"What are you talking about?" Isshin stated, asking for further detail, though he likely knew what the boy was talking about.

"When you took me to get registered for … elementary school. There was a point that I nearly bolted out of the room. It wasn't because you were angry at me. You were trying to stop something like what happened a few days ago from happening."

Isshin gave the small, white haired boy a weak smile. "Sorry that I made you think I was angry at you Shiro-chan. I really didn't mean to make you feel that way."

The two remained silent for awhile, and then Toshiro spoke up again. "I apologize for being such a pain. When I said that I hated you, I didn't mean it. I am glad to see you again."

"I know you didn't," the man stated. "So… what are you going to do about the fact that you found out I've been down here all the time?"

"I don't see the point in saying anything, as long as your powers are gone. I'll say something if you happen to get your powers back. Toshiro took a deep breath.

"Promise me, you'll do that, if that does happen," Isshin stated.

"It isn't as if your powers are going to come back," the boy stated, shrugging off the whole thing.

"Promise me… so I know that you won't run the risk of getting in trouble with Soul Society." Isshin gave him a look.

"Promise me," the man stated, having his own reasons.

"Fine, I promise," Toshiro shook his head, thinking it was simply another one of his taicho's quirks.

Isshin gave Toshiro a smile. "Out of all my kids, you are the one who causes me the most worry, you know that?"

Toshiro gave the man a weak smile, then went back to looking at the stars. There was a lot to be said, but most he wasn't ready to say, or it without having to say it in words.

_Author's note – So, this is the last chapter. Does this mean the story is over? Far from it, as the truth is, I tend to break up my stories into sections. The story is continued, in Understanding II: School Daze._


End file.
